The Chalice and the Wand
by Poetheather1
Summary: Ron never seems to have any luck. When he wakes up to discover that he is now a woman the repercussions in his life are great. Will his love for Hermione survive and what's up with Luna? M for content.
1. Chapter 1

This is a work of fiction using the characters created by J.K. Rowling. They are not used with her permission. All actions follow the events of book six of the series. Any similarity between any person living or dead is purely coincidental and unintentional. If you happen to find your life reflected in this piece I'll be impressed.

The Chalice and the Wand

Heather O'Malley

Story ideas by Heather and Wintermoon

Chapter One

Ron slowly awoke, true consciousness eluding him, blinking his eyes. He moved back from Hermione a little and slipped a foot out from under the comforter. It was a little bit cold and he really didn't want to leave the warmth of the blankets but his bladder was rather insistent. He really needed to go. He moved a bit farther away from her and started getting out of the bed. Hermione mumbled a bit as he moved away.

He sat up and his sleep fogged mind noted that something was off. He felt odd, like his balance was off or something. And was the room larger? 'Maybe I'm getting a cold?'

He padded towards the lavatory over the wooden floor. Again he could tell his body was moving differently, his hips moving strangely. His chest also felt strange, heavier. Parts of his chest felt tight from the cold air on his shirtless torso. He also was holding up his pajamas up with one hand, as they were trying to slip from his body. Ron really was too tired to care. All that really registered was his desire to pee and then climb back into his warm bed with his fiancé.

A faint smile stretched the corners of his mouth as he felt his love for Hermione fill him. It had been three months since she had accepted the ring from him. The ring had been the very one his father had given his mother years ago. Since it looked like Ron would be the first Weasley boy to marry he was given the ring. He could hardly wait.

He didn't bother turning on the light in the lavatory when he got there, as he knew where everything was. Ron stumbled his way to the seat, lifted it and set his feet, his eyes faintly closed. He let go of his pajama bottoms and they fell to the floor, obviously larger than before. Ron reached down to grab his penis in order to aim as he started to pee. He grabbed his opposite thigh as he felt a warm spray began to trickle down his legs.

Something was really wrong here. That wasn't supposed to happen. Ron opened his eyes to look down and figure out what the problem was so he could fix it, before he soaked his pajamas. As his eyes opened he saw his new firm breasts move with the rise and fall of his breath and his exploring hands could feel that he had no penis, just a fleshy gash. His eyes grew wide is shock.

Ron took in a deep breath, screamed in fright and passed out cold on the floor.

******

Ron awoke with a foul smell assaulting his nose. He blinked his eyes open into the light, waving a hand in front of his face to clear the air. He was lying flat on his back in some sort of puddle, looking up at the wide eyed Hermione who asked, "Ron, are you alright?"

"Uhn…I had the weirdest dream 'mione, where I was a girl. I think I screamed when I realized I had no penis. What happened?" Ron's vision was still a little blurry; he could see Hermione and these two pink mounds on his chest. As his vision cleared and the mounds didn't disappear Ron yelped, "Bloody Hell!"

Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes, smiling down at Ron. "Honestly Ronald, how do you manage to do this to yourself?"

"Me? I didn't do anything. Ewww…let me get out of these wet pajamas." Hermione helped Ron to his feet. Ron noted that she didn't have to work as hard as she had before. He seemed lighter and smaller as well. He was able to look Hermione in the eyes, something he hadn't been able to do since their third year. She had always needed to look up at him after that year. Now they were eye to eye, with maybe Ron actually being a hair shorter.

"Ick." Hermione steadied Ron as he swayed slightly while pulling off the wet and still slightly warm pajamas. He tossed them into the clothes hamper and used a towel to clean up after himself. Hermione handed him a warm washcloth for him to wipe his legs clean. The feeling was odd, as if his skin was more sensitive. "Uhm…'mione, do you have any idea how anything like this could have happened?"

Hermione looked thoughtful as se stared at Ron. "I don't think it could be a switching spell. Perhaps something from dinner last night had been cursed or laced with some sort of potion? Why don't you put on your robe and come to the living room. I'll put the kettle on and get my books."

She smiled at Ron, kissed him on the cheek and headed off to her books. Ron ran his hand through his hair. It was still the same length it had been when he had gone to sleep. He turned to the mirror and looked at himself, a little afraid of what he must look like. His reflection looked like an older and slightly different version of his sister. He could still make out his face, as the pattern of his freckles hadn't changed, but it was odd. His eyes were also the same but there was no denying it. He had a girl's face now. Among other things.

Ron shuddered. He was cold inside and out. His nipples were crinkled tightly and that hurt. He hustled out of the lavatory and put on the robe his mother had knitted for him, with a big R on the breast pocket. It now swam on him a great deal more than it had before, enveloping his smaller body. The yarn felt different on his skin as well. He did notice that he had also lost pretty much all of his body hair. 'That would certainly explain why I am so bloody cold right now.'

Ron walked over to where his clothes from last night were piled on the floor. He grabbed and pulled up his underwear. They slid down after he let them go, no longer fitting his waist. Ron went to his dresser and pulled out another pair, this one rattier and older, and pulled them on. They slid off him as well. He sighed, belted his robe tighter and headed out of the bedroom.

Hermione already had her face buried in a book, the large volume Curses through the Ages by Phygria Tourdalles. She had a quill jotting down the notes she was mumbling as she went page by page through the tome. Crookshanks was rubbing up against her leg purring. The kettle was starting to whistle.

Ron took the kettle off the stove and poured the hot water into the two mugs Hermione had already gotten down and placed tea bags into. He could smell the Irish Breakfast tea waft up from the mugs. He smiled, glad she had gotten his favorite out. He really needed something nice at the moment. Ron got down the honey, looking forward to the tea soothing his stomach, which churned unhappily sine the discovery of his missing penis and maleness.

When the tea was ready Ron carried her cup over to her and placed it near her right hand. " 'mione, your tea."

She murmured her thanks and kept taking notes, her quill scratching away on the parchment. Ron sat down opposite her, sipping from his mug. The hot, honey sweetened tea was nice and helped to calm his jangled nerves. He defiantly needed that. The caffeine was also nice, helping him to get more awake, since he felt pretty sure that he wasn't going to be able to get any more sleep that night. Waking up to this new body was defiantly a shock to his system. He leaned forward, resting on his elbows and felt his breasts yield against the table. It felt odd and it startled him. He sat back upright, managing to avoid spilling his tea. He shook a little and wiped the sand from the corners of his eyes.

Hermione sipped occasionally from the tea and smiled, as Ron had again managed to get the honey just right. She put down the mug and flicked her wand, sending the book whisking back to the bookshelf filled with her other magical reference books. She had already amassed quite a collection. She grinned at her fiancé. "Well Ron, this doesn't seem to be as bad as all that. Apparently this was a very popular curse in the fifteenth century and there are several variations of the spell. I have written down the counterspells and I am ready to give them a try. Are you ready?"

"I guess so. I mean I can't bloody wear this robe all day now can I?" said Ron, gesturing to himself, catching one of his breasts with the edge of his hand. He eeped in surprise.

Hermione rolled her eyes and delicately picked up her wand. She looked back over her notes one more time and smiled at Ron. With a soft gesture she spoke, "Quidam Restituo."

Nothing happened.

Hermione looked a little flustered at this. Her eyebrows moved closer together as she frowned in concentration. "Quidam Restituo!"

Nothing happened.

Hermione huffed and looked back down over her notes. She scanned the page quickly and looked up again. "Perhaps it was this other spell. Incanto Homo Repeto."

Nothing happened.

"Incanto Homo Repeto!"

Still nothing happened.

"Solvo Mutatio!"

Ron sat there looking up at Hermione expectantly. He couldn't figure out why it wasn't working.

"Solvo Mutatio!!!"

She dropped her wand on the table, her irritation plain on her face. "Honestly! I'm sorry Ron but this does not seem to be a traditional curse or transfiguration. Perhaps I need to look into the possibility of some sort of antidote being needed?"

Ron sighed. He had hoped this would be an easy fix. If there was a cure out there Hermione would be able to find it; she really was clever. She had even managed to invent a few new spells that she had turned around and sold. That helped with their money and kept her from having to work at any other job other than spell research. His job at the ministry wasn't necessary but Ron really liked it. Working in the Department of Mysteries kept him from running into either Percy or his Father. He really enjoyed it.

Hermione was busy working through another big tome, getting more notes, a wrinkle forming between her eyebrows as she concentrated. As she continued to read she began to frown. "Ron, I know you won't like this idea but I think we need to talk to Professor Snape. I think we will need his experience with potions. It would really help."

"Do we really have to talk to that git? I don't want him to know what happened to me." whined Ron. He frowned, not wanting anyone to hear about this.

Hermione sounded exasperated when she replied, "Ronald, Professor Snape does know more about potions than I do. I can't think of any potion that could do this to you and stick. Polyjuice certainly doesn't work that way and my books don't mention any other possibilities. I just want to Floo him."

"Alright." humphed Ron. He padded over to his favorite armchair and sat in it. He had more room in the chair now so he shifted about until he got comfortable, with his legs tucked up next to him. That seemed to do the trick.

Hermione looked over her shoulder at the now female Ron. He looked really cute and totally feminine. She wasn't used to seeing him this way and it was a bit unnerving. She really wanted to fix this. She grabbed some Floo powder and knelt by the fire. She tossed it into the fire and said clearly, "Hogwarts, Severus Snape."

Her vision shifted and she was looking into Snape's rooms at Hogwarts. She looked about but didn't see the hawk nosed professor, however Harry was lounging on a chair in a pair of boxers reading the Daily Prophet. She was a bit surprised to see him. "Harry?"

Harry looked up, taken aback by the sudden voice and spotted Hermione's face in the green flames. He smiled broadly at her, his hair tousled as normal. "Hermione! It's great to see you. How are you and Ron doing?"

"Uhmmmm…..he's okay." evaded Hermione. "Is Severus there?"

Harry turned his head away from the fire for a second. He turned back and replied, "Yes. Let me get him."

Harry moved out of Hermione's line of sight. She looked at the austere furnishings of Professor Snape. She could however see a few touches of Harry's presence in the few splashes of color. Soon the severe brooding Snape walked up and gazed into the fire. His expression was unreadable as usual. "Granger."

"Hello Professor. I have a potions question to ask you." She asked politely.

"Really? Something you don't know? What would that be?' asked Severus, with an eyebrow cocked upwards.

"Well, are there any potions that can turn a man into a woman?" asked Hermione hesitantly.

"Trying to spice up your love life I see, Ms. Granger. Surely, you of all people are aware of the Polyjuice potion." replied Snape as he lifted an eyebrow disdainfully. "Trouble with the Boomslang skin?"

"Some thing more permanent than Polyjuice." she said, looking flustered. "I have consulted my books and I couldn't find any reference to such a potion. Is there anything that can do that?"

Snape's eyes flicked off to her side and widened a little in surprise and amusement. He smiled thinly. "I take it then that Mr. Weasley has had an accident?"

Ron grumbled from behind Hermione at those words. She smiled weakly at Snape. "Something like that. It isn't some sort of curse or transfiguration as far as I can tell. I have used several countercharms but nothing seems to work. And since it has been over an hour since this has happened Polyjuice has been ruled out."

"I see." Snape's dark eyes narrowed in thought. Hermione could almost hear the wheels turn in his mind. Harry looked concerned as he stood behind Snape. "There was a rare potion used by the Ephesian Mystery Cult that was rumored to have such an effect. There is doubtless an antidote. Otherwise, I know of no other potion."

"Thank you Professor. Do you have any other information on it?" asked Hermione, whose eyes sparkled in excitement at the prospect of brand new information.

"I would check the Library at the Ministry Museum. They might have a copy. Other than that, who knows?" Said Snape, his lip curling disdainfully.

"Thank you very much Professor. Don't worry Harry, we'll call back later. If I have any questions Professor I'll call back. Good bye." Hermione pulled her face from the fire and the flames returned to normal. "Did you hear that Ron? If I find that I should be able to cure you."

"That's great!" Ron beamed at her. He then thought of something and his excitement faded, as its realization set in. "Uhm…'mione?"

"Yes dear?" replied Hermione quizzically.

"How long do you think this will take? You know, to brew?" asked Ron, nervously.

Hermione thought about it, eyes narrowed in thought. "I'm not sure. Certainly it shouldn't be as long as Polyjuice potion, but it could be. So, certainly no more than a month after I am able to get the directions."

Ron looked crestfallen. He looked over his changed body, felt overwhelmed by emotion and began to cry. This confused Ron even more and added to his tears. Hermione's eyes widened in surprise and shock at Ron's response to the news. She rushed over and hugged her fiancé, concerned. His changed body felt odd and wrong under her arms. It made her a bit uncomfortable. "Ron, what is it?"

"Oh, Hermione, what am I supposed to do about work? I can't just leave for a month. And my work was going so well." Ron was able to choke out an answer between sobs.

"Should we tell them what happened?" asked Hermione gently.

"No! Yes. Maybe. I don't know. I had hoped you could fix this really easily so I wouldn't have to be like this for long." Ron slowed to sniffles, wiping his eyes on his robe.

Hermione looked ready to say something and then it was obvious to Ron that something new occurred to her. "Ron, do you think your brothers could have done this?"

"Fred and George? I suppose they could." Ron admitted. "They would find this whole thing tremendously funny."

"Oh! If they did this I will curse their ears off! I'll talk to your mother." Hermione was obviously getting angry and worked up. Ron shifted back away from her. It was safer to not be in the way of an angry Hermione. "I should Floo her or we should apparate in and tell her straight away."

"Am I supposed to go like this? In my bathrobe?" asked Ron incredulously, hoping to forestall the impending row.

"Well, your clothes obviously won't fit you anymore. You should be able to wear something of mine for right now. Maybe Ginny has some things that she can let you borrow until we get this all sorted." responded Hermione.

Ron followed her to their bedroom, shuffling his now smaller feet. What had happened to him? Why was this happening? He didn't want to be a girl. He had never even thought about it or what it might be like. And now here he was, a girl. His body felt weird and he wasn't looking forward to facing Fred and George about this. They were probably very pleased with themselves. When he made it into the room Hermione was busy looking through her dresser for things.

She pulled out a pair of bra and panties, made of both satin and lace. They were really feminine. Ron shuddered as she handed them to him. "Here you go Ron. Put these on."

"But 'mione…don't you have anything…you know…less girly?" He looked up at her with sad and pleading eyes.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Ronald Bilius Weasley, you were the one who said that you liked how I looked in this kind of underwear so I bought all matching pairs, just for you. You wanted me in this and it is all I have."

"What about those pairs of plain white underwear?" asked Ron. "You wear those occasionally."

"Sigh…Ron, do you really want to wear the panties I wear during my period?" replied Hermione patiently.

Ron made a face and said, "Ick.."

"Honestly Ronald…" sighed Hermione. "Just put them on."

Ron took the pale blue panties with lace trim and pulled them up his legs. He shuddered as the soft material sent chills up his already cold body. The panties were a little loose on his waist, but not by a lot, and they sat very differently than either his boxers or briefs. They certainly hugged his body more, even when a bit loose. He sort of felt that his bum was falling out of them however.

Ron looked at the matching bra and tried to remember how Hermione put one on. He knew how to take one off, even mastered the one handed back closure release but putting one on? He put his arms through the straps and pulled the elastic around behind him. He struggled with it for a while before he found the eyelets for the hooks. The cups were resting on top of his breasts so he pulled them down over his new protrusions. It didn't feel comfortable at all. He wondered how women could stand wearing these things.

Hermione walked out of the closet with a blouse and a pair of her jeans and giggled when she looked at Ron. She came over, unhooked Ron and untwisted the straps, straightening the whole thing out. "Ron, bend down and pull your breasts into the cups. They will sit better that way. I promise."

Ron bent over at the waist and reached into the cups and pulled his new breasts up and into them. It felt odd, really odd. The flesh was smooth and soft and a bit squishy. They actually moved when he pulled them up and they did settle into the bra. The cups were a bit loose on him but the strap was comfortable. He stood up and looked at Hermione.

She smiled at him and handed him the jeans. He pulled them up his legs, but what was odd was how they were a lot tighter than his own jeans. He felt like they were almost a second skin. The waist band was a bit loose but the seat of the jeans was a bit tight. He knew they looked good on Hermione but he was sure he looked stupid in them.

He was then handed a t-shirt with ¾ sleeves. It looked like any longish sleeved shirt, except for the more feminine colors. Ron sighed in acceptance and pulled on the shirt. the material was softer than his own shirts.

Hermione had gotten dressed quickly while Ron was having some clothing problems. She tossed him a pair of socks and a pair of her older trainers. They were a bit small for Hermione which meant they should now fit Ron. Ron put them on without complaint.

After they were both fully dressed Ron and Hermione walked into the living room and retrieved the pages of notes. She knew she would need them when talking with Molly and with the twins. She picked up her wand and Ron got a hold of his. The walked to the closet, got out their light jackets and put them on. It was a bit cool outside, since British fall was not the warmest or driest.

With a quick incantation they were standing outside of the Burrow. Ron knocked on the door and they both could hear Molly bustling her way to the door. His mother opened up the door and her eyes brightened when they saw Hermione. "Hermione! How wonderful to see you dear. Why don't you and your friend come inside for a spot of tea? Here for a visit?"

Ron was incredulous. His mother didn't recognize him.

"Your friend looks familiar. Do I know her?" chattered Molly, continuing on as they moved into the kitchen.

Ron sighed, "Mum…"

Molly stopped and really looked at Ron. Her eyes widened in shock and then she yelled out, "Fred and George Weasley! What have you done to your brother? Oh…when I get my hands on those two! Please sit down you two, Want some tea? I have a few chocolate biscuits, if you want."

The two complied and nodded at Molly. After she handed them their tea and set down a plate of the biscuits Molly excused herself. After a few moments they could hear her yelling a howler. She returned with a red envelope and smiled brightly at them. "Are you going to be able to stay for lunch? Ginny is coming by for a visit and she hasn't seen either of you in weeks."

Molly called over Errol and handed him the Howler. The old owl flapped erratically into the sky and out of sight. Molly continued to bustle about with her chores. Finally Hermione spoke, "Molly? I think we need to talk about this before the twins get here."

"Certainly dear. Do you have any idea what happened?" asked Molly, finally sitting at the table.

"None at all. Ron woke up this morning like this and we don't know why. I have tried a few counterspells that I found but nothing that helped. I even spoke with Professor Snape about things and he gave me a few ideas. That was when I reasoned that the twins could be involved in this." explained Hermione. Ron just sat there feeling miserable. Just how soon would his whole family know about this?

Ron was ignoring the chatting and drinking his tea. Even the chocolate biscuits failed to help his mood. He headed off and into the living room. He wanted some time to himself. He sat in one of his favorite chairs and curled up again. Ron shook a little, but not from the cold. So many things had happened to him over the course of his life that he should be able to cope with weird things. After the war there were a lot of things that didn't faze him any more. And working in the Department of Mysteries gave him a whole different set of weird events to ruminate over. But nothing had occurred like this.

He just wished that things would go back to normal. He could feel a hollowness within himself that seemed to be an opposite of how he had been. He had certainly never felt anything like that before. And he felt weaker. His arms were thinner and he felt like a stiff breeze could knock him over. He drifted off to sleep in the chair, fretting over what had occurred.

Hermione was busy in her conversation with Molly. She was explaining what she had done in an attempt to fix the problem. She went over the various incantations with her and things turned to different things. "I am not sure what to do Molly. He almost looks like Ginny. It is unnerving."

"I know what you mean. Ron looks really odd. He looks like a girl, completely. I just hope the twins have a way to reverse what they have done to him." Molly looked over towards the living room. "I hope he is dealing with this okay."

Hermione looked a little worried. "He is hanging onto the fact that I can fix this. I have already tried what I know. If they twins can't fix this then I have to do more research. I am afraid that this could take a while. I don't know how he will cope with being a girl."

Molly looked over into the living room as well. "You may have something there Hermione. It's not like he hasn't been teased by his brothers a lot. Maybe he will be okay."

"Maybe. I am just worried about him. He had so many issues during school with feeling like he was less than his brothers. This might make things worse, especially if Fred and George did this." Hermione stirred her tea absently.

They both heard the crack of someone arriving. Ginny walked in a moment later. She saw Hermione, squealed, ran over and hugged her. "Hermione, I didn't know you were going to be here. Is Ron here?"

Molly and Hermione stared at each other for a moment silently, trying to figure out where to start. Ginny looked between them and then asked. "What's wrong with Ron?"

Molly said, "He's in the living room."

Ginny looked confused and headed into the living room. She suddenly eeped and ran back out. "Ron's a girl?"

The two others nodded, looking concerned. "How did this happen? Was it Fred and George?"

Molly nodded. "It is the kind of thing that they would do."

Ginny sat down heavily at the table. "It's weird, he looks a little like me."

Again the other two nodded. Ginny kept on talking, "So what are we going to do?"

Hermione sighed. "I don't know. I have done some research into this already and have no real answers. I hope I can fix this."

Molly shook her self. "Well, let's at least eat. Hermione, why don't you wake Ron when the food is ready."

Molly began bustling around, preparing lunch. Ginny leaned in and whispered to Hermione. "So, does he kiss the same?"

Hermione turned red to her ears at the question. "I don't know. I haven't touched him."

Ginny looked confused and cocked her head, "Why not? He's still your fiancé."

Hermione looked flustered. "But he's a girl. It disturbs me to even think of it. I'm not interested in girls."

"But it's Ron." Ginny looked worried. "He is the same person, only changed by some sort of magic. It's not his fault this happened, so why punish him?"

Hermione shifted in her seat, uncomfortable with the question. "I'm not punishing him. It's just that when I get close to him all I see is girl and not Ron. It makes me sick to my stomach. I have never kissed a girl and never intend to."

Ron walked into the room, wiping the sleep out of his eyes. He paled a little when he saw Ginny. His sister merely smiled reassuringly, "Afternoon, Ron."

"Uhm…Hello Ginny. How are you doing?" he asked a little worried. He wasn't really comfortable seeing her when he was like this.

"Not too bad, better than you it seems. You doing okay?" she asked, obviously worried about him.

Ron shrugged, feeling better for her concern. "I'm doing alright I guess. I am a bit stressed over this. I have no idea what to do if I have to stay like this. How am I going to explain this to work?"

Ginny smiled and giggled. "Simply tell them that you decided to have a change of pace in your life."

Ron giggled. He stopped and his eyes went wide. He had expected a chuckle to come out. "Uhm…what was that?"

Hermione and Ginny were smiling at Ron. Ginny spoke up. "Ron, I have no idea why you giggled but that was what that was. That sounded odd but don't worry about it. Probably comes with the body."

Ron nodded and sat down at his usual seat at the large table. Molly brought over plates of Bangers with Bubble and Squeak for everyone. Ron smiled; he liked both of these dishes. He dug into the food happily. He stopped before he was half way through what he had served himself, already full. He looked longingly at the rest of the food but he was unable to put any more into himself without making himself sick. He sat back in his chair and drank some more of his butterbeer.

There really hadn't been a lot of talk at the table. Ginny had caught everyone up on the events of her life. Her work kept her busy as she was busy chasing down the last of the death eaters. She was enjoying her work as an Auror and was doing quite well. She worked with Harry occasionally and it was well known that those two made a great team much feared by the remnants of the Death Eaters. She saw more of Harry now than Hermione and Ron did. She also spent time with Snape as well. She kept trying to get Ron to realize that Snape wasn't a git but actually a fairly nice person who treated Harry really well. Ron was still rather anti-Snape and didn't want to even think about the beaked nose Professor. Let alone his hand in their getting together.

While Ginny was talking about one of her and Harry's last cases Fred and George walked into the house. They were both dressed in their really nice green dragon hide suits and looked as if they had just left the office. The two tall red heads had filled out a little and no longer were beanpoles. They looked irritated and glared at their mother. Fred began, "What is the point …"

"…of sending us a howler?" finished George. "We haven't done anything."

Molly quickly stood and began her diatribe, gesturing wildly and angrily. "How could you two do this to your brother? Your jokes have got to stop! This one was not even remotely funny. Did you even stop to think about Ron's feelings in this? Hermione's? I don't think so. This was a mean joke and you should both have known better…"

Fred jumped in when she took a breath. "Mum, what joke are you talking about?"

George followed quickly, knowing that the secret was to not let their mother build up a good head of steam. "We haven't done anything to Ron in months. Work you know."

"Yeah Mum, we are businessmen now, with really hectic schedules. We don't have as much time to plan jokes for Ron." followed Fred.

"I suppose you expect me to believe you when you say that you didn't do this to Ron?" Molly gestured towards where Ron was sitting.

Fred and George looked confused at the girl that their mother was pointing to. They then noticed the freckle pattern and the way she was blushing. Their eyes grew wide in surprise, and then their grins spread across their faces. "Merlin's Beard…"

"…its ickle Ronnie diddlekins!" The twins fell into each others arms laughing.

"How could you two do this to Ron?" demanded Molly.

"Mother, really, if we did this to Ron…" started George.

"…don't you think we would own up to it? So what was it? Polyjuice? A curse, jinx, what?" ended Fred.

Hermione looked bothered by this. "I was hoping you two would know. I haven't been able to figure it out yet."

Now the twins looked worried. they knew just how powerful a witch Hermione was. "Ronnie here is a girl…"

"…and you don't know why? What can we do to help?"

Molly, Ginny and Hermione all shared a look. They hadn't really considered what it could mean for the twins not to have done this to Ron. They were counting on the two of the mischief makers to be the culprits. Hermione looked again through her notes, maybe these two could do something. "Well, if you didn't do this to Ron, perhaps you could help me find a cure."

"Consider it done. Do you want us to find out who did this as well?" asked Fred, looking a bit irritated at the affront to their brother.

"Yeah. Only we have the right to turn Ronnie here into a girl." remarked George, scowling a bit.

"Don't call me that!" growled Ron.

"What? Ronnie?" asked the twins.

"Don't call me that!" Ron's voice was growing louder and more strident. He glared at his brothers angrily.

"But ickle diddle Ronnie kins, we have been calling you this for years." said George, opening his hands up, confused at Ron's outburst.

"We can't very well stop now. It would be unnatural." added Fred. They both smiled innocently at Ron.

Ron glowered at the twins, his anger at them building. Ginny used a hand to restrain Ron, as he had started to stand up and reach for his wand. Molly glared at Fred and George, still clearly upset but derailed from her accusations. "Well, it's a good thing that you two hadn't done this. I would have definitely jinxed your ears into cauliflower. Just imagine what your father would have done to you, let alone Hermione and Ginny."

The twins smiled at their mother and nodded. They pulled up chairs and joined the others at the table. Hermione repeated the whole story to them and the twins seemed amused and alarmed by the tale. Ron just seemed upset and sat with his head down as the events were recounted yet again. After a while he walked back out into the living room to get away from it all. He plopped back into his chair and worried what he was going to do now?

He really had hoped Fred and George were responsible for this curse. If they had been, he would be a guy again right now. He might even think it might be funny in a few weeks. But they hadn't done this to him. The twins never really lied to their mother and they would definitely have owned up to this one. It definitely would have ranked right up there with their best pranks. What was he going to do if he was stuck like this? He didn't want to be a girl, but now he was. His bladder was getting full and he knew he needed to take care of it but he was scared and unnerved.

Finally he got up and went in to the bathroom. He thought about it and realized that he needed to sit down this time as standing only worked for wetting himself. He dropped his borrowed pants and knickers, sat down and went. It felt odd and it was really loud. When he finished he stood up and pulled up his underwear. A bit of urine trickled down his leg. "Bloody hell."

He got some toilet paper and wiped himself clean. Now he knew why Hermione wiped. He shook his head and finished getting redressed. He walked out of the loo and back into the kitchen where they were still talking about this event. He turned as the kitchen door opened and watched as his father walked in.

Arthur Weasley stared at the woman standing before him. She looked familiar but he was sure they had never met. "Who are you?"

"It's me Dad, Ron." admitted Ron, a bit embarrassed about being a girl. Now everyone in the family would know.

Arthur gaped at Ron for a moment and then yelped, "Ron? Ron! Fred, George, what did you both do to your brother?!"


	2. Chapter 2

This is a work of fiction using the characters created by J.K. Rowling. They are not used with her permission. All actions follow the events of book six of the series. Any similarity between any person living or dead is purely coincidental and unintentional. If you happen to find your life reflected in this piece I'll be impressed.

The Chalice and the Wand

Heather O'Malley

Story ideas by Heather and Wintermoon3

Beta by redpiratemel

Chapter Two

Luna lazily brushed the hair from her face as she looked over her notes. The story on Nargles should go over quite well. She had received several recent reports and sightings to update the story and knew it would help make that issue a great seller, maybe as good as the one with Harry's interview. Maybe.

Luna thought about Harry. She hadn't seen him since the War had ended. Ron had been giving a healing draught to both him and Snape. He looked nearly dead there, lying on the ground, bleeding. She had left once they knew Voldemort was dead and that Harry lived. She needed something other than war and death around her. She had found some peace in Salem for a while, meeting many American Witches and Wizards. They were very different from the ones she had known in England. They talked differently for one thing.

One of them, Melificent, had awoken her to the joys of women. The softness of breasts, the perfect way they spooned together, the delicious taste which made her drool with the thought. Luna had never felt anything so wonderful or so fulfilling in a way that snogging boys never had. She had happily spent some time in the lesbian scene in America but felt the need to come home. She knew her father needed her and that the Quibbler could use her help as well.

Telling Meli that she was leaving was one of the hardest things she had ever done. She had truly loved the other girl, but when Meli refused to come over to England with her, Luna had little choice but to leave. Luna had gotten used to knowing what to do, and doing it. The War had taught her how to make the difficult and painful choices that often arose in life. She still missed Meli, especially on cold nights when she had no one to cuddle up against. But the American had made her decision quite clear and so had Luna.

Luna continued writing her Nargles story. It was almost long enough and then she could finish. The skritch of the pen was actually rather soothing. Maybe it was time for her to talk to her friends again. She hadn't heard anything at all about Ron, Ginny, Hermione, Neville, Cho or any of the other members of Dumbledore's Army that had survived the war. She'd heard about Harry and Snape and the scandal their pairing up had caused. That bit of news had even been reported in America, through the several competing newspapers. Luna had seen several pictures of them and thought they made a cute couple.

She pulled her shawl tighter and returned to work. Her mind seemed to be drifting horribly lately. Maybe it was due to Nargle venom? She would have to look into remedies for this. She definitely didn't want things drifting this much.

Maybe she should go to some of the pubs around the area. Some of them were nice and she might run into some of her old friends. If nothing else, she could always look them up in the Floo registry and get a hold of them that way. She probably wouldn't do that as she wasn't comfortable intruding in that manner. While some things had changed about her other things hadn't. She had forgotten the taste of butterbeer and she remembered liking it. Maybe she should take a little time off to relax and maybe to relax more often then she was. She had moved and immediately started up with working for her dad. Maybe she needed to actually look around to get a feel for the country again. She stretched and looked back down at the page.

She shook her head to try and clear it again. It wasn't working. She stood up from her desk and walked over to her kitchen to put the kettle on. Maybe what she needed was a nice cup of tea, and maybe one of the chocolate biscuits she'd had lying about. Perhaps a bit of a snack and a break would make the work easier for her to accomplish. If she got this article into her father before morning, it might just make it into the next issue. That would definitely help fill the article void he had been talking about.

She poured herself a mug of hot water and dropped in an herbal tea bag. She liked mint tea, it was soothing and she loved the smell. It didn't go perfectly with chocolate biscuits but a little dissonance was good for the soul, or so she fervently believed. She liked it and tried to keep things a little off balance around her. Luna firmly believed that chaos was the source of growth and endeavored to have chaos about her, to encourage her own growth and others.

The tea and biscuits certainly did hit the spot, but she still didn't feel like she could finish the article. This was rather frustrating. Maybe she would feel better after a shower or maybe have a nice soak. She could use her dicta-quill while she was in there. That way she could relax and still be able to finish her story. "Accio Scroll."

With the scroll in hand she headed into the bathroom and drew a nice warm tub with flower scented, multicolored bubbles. She always liked bubble baths; they made her giggle.

She looked around and realized that she didn't have the quill she needed either. "Accio Quill."

The pink quill sailed into the room and hovered over the scrolls page. She undressed, letting her clothes fall to the floor, kicking her panties towards the hamper. She giggled when they actually managed to make it into the basket.

The water was just right and soothed her aches. 'This is wonderful.' she thought. 'I hope other people get to enjoy this.'

* * * * *

Hermione grabbed two towels and Ron's robe and set them down near the bath. "Here you go, Ron. This should help you relax. Why don't you climb into the tub and I'll see what I can do to help. A mug of tea will be up here in a moment. I'll put out some of the night clothes Ginny got for you on the bed."

Ron simply nodded as he looked at the water in the tub. Their tub wasn't as big or as nice as the Prefects' tub at Hogwarts. Even with Myrtle peeking in all the time it was nice. Their tub was nice though. It was a white ceramic tub that had charms on it to hold in heat and to keep from spilling.

After she left and pulled the door closed, Ron dropped his robe and stepped into the water. It felt silky from the bath salts that Hermione had added to the water. The water was warm and felt good as he lowered himself into the tub. He leaned back and exhaled. What a crazy day it had been. He really did need to relax, something which his work on the horcruxes scarce afforded him. He was also a bit worried about what Ginny had gotten him to wear.

Ginny had gotten him a few things to wear as they were close in size. She had flooed to her apartment and grabbed him some of her older things. Thankfully none of them were skirts. He still felt odd about having her underwear. He was looking forward to getting his own clothes, despite the fact that they would be girl clothes. He really hoped that Hermione would be able to find a solution to this stupid problem. He wanted to go back to his old jeans and baggy t-shirts that he wore when not working. He had to dress nicely for work so he slobbed around all other times.

He sighed and just tired to relax in the tub. He was a bit lower in the tub than he usually and the water had heated the ceramic tub nicely. His eyes were closed and he breathed in the spicy scented steam rising from the water. Though he did not know what bath scent it was it was fragrant and relaxing. He felt a bit energetic somehow. Why hadn't he used any of these before?

His arms hung loosely in the water. His body felt really warm and sweat began to bead on his forehead. It was nice, even when the sweat dropped in trails down his face. He raised his right hand to brush his face.

Ron's arm pressed against his right breast as he moved his hand. I was odd, realizing that he had two new additions and one glaring subtraction. He opened his eyes and looked down at himself. His breasts were almost floating and he could see the tangle of red hair that hid his…well, he wasn't sure what he wanted to call it. His pussy? He shuddered a little at how absurd and odd that sounded. Maybe he could just have a little feel, to see what it was like.

Gently his hands traveled down and through the hair. Immediately he could tell a difference. There was a stronger sensation there. Running his fingers through the red triangle of his pubes was very sensual. He tugged lightly on it, remembering some of the things Hermione liked. His fingers seemed different as well; his smaller hand and thinner fingers really felt delicate and had a much lighter touch. He traced the top of his cleft slowly, his eyes closing with the tingle of new sensation.

All that ran through his mind at that moment was that lecture Snape had given to all the fifth year boys **- **the pictures Snape had shown them and his comments. Ringing the doorbell? Yes, that was ol' hook nose had said. Maybe he should give it a try. Sometimes Snape had gotten a few things right, maybe this was one of them.

He slid his hand lower until Ron could feel the clitoral hood; he was now getting to feel this new part. He slid lower and his body shivered with how it felt. As his fingers kept moving he could feel a warm pleasure building. A moan escaped from his mouth and he froze. He moaned? What the…?

Ron quickly removed his hand and could feel his face burn hotly. His body wanted release and he wanted to feel that sensation again but he was so afraid of what he felt. It felt good, too good. He might like it too much. Ron pulled his hands from the water and he scrubbed his face, trying to clear the memory of the event. He shook his head and rose from the tub. He stepped from the water and dried off quickly, pulling on his robe. With a flick of his wand, the tub started to drain.

He walked into the bedroom and pulled on his new pajamas, the ones Ginny had given him. They were cotton and of a fairly plain color. Thankfully they were not very feminine. But the cotton was softer than any of his other pajamas. Maybe he wouldn't mind these after all.

The warm mug Hermione had brought him was heating his hands – it wasn't his favorite tea but it was close. He realized that Hermione probably realized that he needed the Chamomile to be able to sleep tonight. She took such great care of him. Hermione made him happier than anyone else ever been with. All those girls in his sixth year had meant very little to him in the end. Hermione had been grumpy about all of that and in the end he had realized what he had really felt for her. Their last year, the war and everything had brought them so much closer. When they had managed to actually survive against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, he had asked her to marry him. When she'd said yes it was one of the happiest moments in his life. They had moved in together and started their lives together. They were both happy when he had gotten the job with the Department of Mysteries. Her independent work was a real boon for them as well.

He sat on the edge of the bed and looked over at the bookshelf. There were two books of spells that Hermione had published. They were all really good spells and very useful. He had managed to learn a few of them himself. Ron was still amazed at how good she was at magic. He had known she was good at magic since their first year together but she had only gotten better and better. He doubted that anyone was as good with spells, especially with both Dumbledore and Voldemort gone. He felt certain that she was currently the strongest Witch alive, and the fact that she wasn't able to get rid of this curse worried him. What the hell could have happened to him? "Bloody hell, just my luck," he muttered.

He was tired and wanted to sleep. Maybe he would wake up in the morning and this would be gone, the curse would be lifted.

* * * * *

Hermione sat in her comfy chair and looked at the fire. Her thoughts were drifting but still circling around the same issue. What was she going to do about Ron?

He was a _she _and despite what Ginny had said Hermione was having a lot of trouble with this whole situation. She wasn't attracted to girls and Ron was now a girl. Just the thought of kissing this girl Ron churned her stomach. It wasn't right. Ginny might be fine with kissing girls but she wasn't. She wasn't even fine thinking about Ginny and Tonks. She was fine with Harry and Snape but girls loving other girls seemed unnatural. Something uncomfortable turned in her whenever she thought about it, which seemed to be constantly today. The issue had always been there, ever since sharing the bathroom with other first years. Watching two girls snog made her feel…all out of sorts.

Hermione hoped that she could find an antidote to this particular issue as she really didn't want to give up Ron. She loved him, and this whole issue made her crazy. It called into question her love. Was it even love anymore? She didn't know what to do.

Ron was upstairs, asleep in their bed, and she couldn't bring herself to sleep in the same bed as another girl. She had to do it a few times before at Hogwarts during the war and other events, like when all their beds had vanished and there was one large mattress with five girls, and it had been…uncomfortable. She still felt twitchy about those events, especially when the other girl had spooned against her. The feel of the other girl's breasts pressed into her back still made her shiver. She had never been able to get that sensation completely out of her mind. It came back occasionally and made her stomach flop. That night she had gotten no sleep.

She would rather kiss Draco Malfoy than another woman. And now it seemed that she was destined to find out what kissing a girl would be like unless she could find a way to fix things. Could she really bring herself to kiss Ron since he was now a girl? Could she sleep in the same bed as Ron since he was a girl? Just the thought of a girl's body against her's made her feel odd.

She drank her tea and stared into the flames. Maybe, just for tonight, she would sleep on the couch. Hermione could make it look like she had fallen asleep studying. Ron would believe that, as she had done it before. She really didn't want him to know what was bothering her. Ron might not understand her reluctance and she didn't want to upset him, as he was going through enough. She sighed and returned to the book she was reading on obscure curses of Africa. She had to find that cure so she could get her fiancé back.

*****

Hermione left early, before Ron woke up. She wanted to get to the Ministry Library when it opened so she could find that book Professor Snape had mentioned. She wanted to find the antidote as soon as possible so she could get back to a normal life. Ron, as a girl, was decidedly not normal.

She apparated into the foyer of the library and headed to the entrance. The guard looked up and noted her approach. "Mornin' Miss Granger, back to look at the books are you?"

Hermione smiled. "Yes I am. I'm looking for something specific this time, so I may not be here long."

The guard waved her in. Hermione walked past the guard's booth and through the heavily warded double door that marked the entrance of the library. The library was huge, filling several stories with the collected tomes of generations. It had especially grown since the height of the British Empire when British wizards had traveled the world and had stolen or purchased various foreign tomes and grimores. The books were extremely well cared for, and the collection was more extensive than the library at Hogwarts** – **one of the few things the Ministry had that was superior to the school.

Hermione walked toward the reference desk wanting to get some help. The tome that Professor Snape mentioned was possibly in one of the special collections and she would need to get special access to those rooms. As she neared the desk she saw that it was Marge Potelswaithe at the desk. Hermione smiled; she would have little trouble getting into any of the special collections.

Marge turned and spotted Hermione heading her way. The older lady smiled broadly and pushed her glasses farther up her nose. "Hermione dear, what can I do to help you?"

"Hello Marge. I'm looking for a book recommended to me by Professor Snape. It is a book of the Eleusian mysteries and their spells and potions. Either that or the cult at Ephesus."

"Ah…yes. Those are in the special collections. It's a three-volume set and covers several of the ancient Greek mystery cults. Let me take you there – I'll need to let you in to the room myself." Marge grabbed a large ring of keys and headed towards the stairs down. Hermione followed wondering what kind of books needed this level of protection.

After going down several levels of stairs they reached a plain looking door. Hermione had always thought it had been a broom closet. Marge took one of the keys and unlocked the door. She motioned Hermione inside, following after her.

They were at the top of another flight of stairs. These looked old and worn, made of stone. When they reached the bottom they were standing in front of a large wooden door with silver runic symbols inlaid. Hermione could feel the age and power of the magic from the door. Her eyes widened in surprise. This was something she had never heard of in this library.

Marge pulled a key off of the ring and pulled another off a chain around her neck. She then placed the keys in two separate locks and turned them both simultaneously. Hermione could hear the sounds of several locks unfastening and then the door slid slowly open. The room on the other side was dark. Marge smiled at Hermione. "You go on in. When you're inside, please close this door. If you don't, the stairs will disappear as you try to walk on them. Enjoy."

With that Marge turned and walked up the stairs, tapping the railing with a key. Hermione turned and walked into the dark room. As she entered, the room filled with light from various magical sources. Before her were shelves of many old-looking books. Her eyes widened in delight and she walked toward them, almost drooling in anticipation.

Hermione looked through the titles and found the three-volume set that Marge had mentioned. All three of the books were thick and heavy. She pulled out the first one with some effort and felt glad that the reading table was close to the shelves. It impacted the table with a heavy thud. Hermione's arms were aching a little from the exertion. She opened the text and looked for a table of contents and found nothing. The book went straight into a description of a cult. It did not seem to be the one she was looking for. She turned the pages, scanning the material for any mention of sex-changing spells or potions. She was unsure how long this search would take. She opened her bag and pulled out her notebook and quill, and got to work. This looked promising.

* * * **

Ron awoke a little groggy. He didn't hear any sounds in the house and figured that Hermione had gone. She did that a lot when she was busy focusing on her studies and research. He sat up and looked down at himself. The breasts were still there. He sighed, really disappointed and slid out of the bed. There was a small drop to the floor as his feet didn't touch the floor from the top of the bed any more.

He padded into the bathroom and emptied his bladder, remembering to wipe this time. He did it just like he had been told, from the bottom to the top, since he had only peed. It felt odd and he wasn't used to it. However, he figured if Hermione couldn't find the cure quickly he just might have to get used to it. He looked in the mirror and the girl's face looked back at him. He smirked. At least he wouldn't have to shave.

Ron went into the room and got out some clothes to wear. He got out a pair of plain pale green panties and the bra his sister had gotten him. He changed into them and then looked around. The bra did feel good, holding up his breasts, but he didn't like how it felt after a while. Taking the one he had worn last night off was a nice feeling as well. Thankfully this bra was just plain white.

He got out one of the pairs of pants that Ginny had given him. They weren't jeans but they were soft and stretchy and looked comfortable. He pulled them on and felt them form to his body. They did were smooth and cool on his hairless legs. He pulled on a ¾ sleeve black top with a hood on it. It was cotton and also looked comfortable. There was a bit of colorful stitching around the neck and cuffs but that was all. He grabbed some socks and the shoes Hermione had let him use yesterday and headed into the kitchen.

He pulled on the socks and shoes and tried to think of something for breakfast. Ron figured that maybe some toast and tea would be nice, as he didn't want to go through the effort to really cook a lot of food. He popped two slices of multigrain bread in the toaster and set the kettle on to boil. When the toast was done he smeared on the butter and marmalade, and then got out his mug and some Irish Breakfast Tea. That would be nice. While the tea was steeping he got out the honey to sweeten his mug. Everything smelled so good and he found himself almost starting to drool.

All in all it was a nice breakfast and surprisingly what little there was filled him up. Things had tasted different as well. That was odd and he wasn't sure why that could be. He looked at the time and sighed. Since he wasn't going to work today he really needed to send an owl in to the office. He wrote a quick note that he had been cursed and that it might be a few days until he was able to come into work. He also jotted down that he was planning to do more work with the items from HH and RR. He tied the note to their owl and sent it off.

He looked at the time again and frowned. It was time to go shopping. He grabbed a light jacket of Hermione's and his wand and waited for his sister to arrive. He sat and looked at the fire while he waited. He was not really looking forward to this. He had trouble shopping with Hermione.

The knock at the door startled him, as he had fallen asleep curled in his chair. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and headed towards the door. When he opened it, there were Ginny and Tonks. He hadn't expected both of them to show. Ginny smiled happily. "Ready to go?"

Ron smiled lightly. "Sure."

He extinguished the fire with a flick of his wand and pulled on the jacket. He had already noticed that he was getting cold easier. Tonks was looking at him questioningly. "Uhm…Ron, what do you want us to call you while we're out shopping. I mean, do you really want us to yell out _Ron_ while sorting through women's clothes?"

Ron blushed at the thought. That would totally mess his life up. "Bloody hell. I hadn't thought of that. I don't know. I guess it doesn't really matter as long as it isn't Ronnie."

Ginny and Tonks looked at each other. They both shrugged and Ginny turned back to her transformed brother. "Well, what about Rhonda? It is close to your name and doesn't sound overly girly, right? I was thinking about this last night, worried about you."

Ron thought about the name. Maybe that might work. It sounded close to his own and he really didn't want to be embarrassed by them calling out his name. He really just wanted to disappear. If it weren't for the fact that he had to get new clothes he wouldn't be doing this. "I guess so. That should work."

Tonks smiled as she turned her hair a vivid green. "Well, we should start calling you this now so that you get used to it, and we can as well. Ready to go Rhonda?"

Ron shrugged. "I guess." He locked the door as they walked from the house. "Where are we going?"

"Well there are some nice and affordable shops in Diagon Alley and there are some in Hogsmeade as well. Where would you rather go?" asked Ginny.

"I don't know. Maybe Diagon Alley. We could see if Fred and George have thought of anything."

"Okay. And we can have lunch at the Leaky Cauldron. Sounds good?" asked Tonks.

"Okay." The group of them nodded and apparated to the Leaky Cauldron.

They arrived in the rear courtyard of the inn and Ginny reached up with her wand and tapped on the stone, causing the wall to open up to the alley. Being a workday, the street wasn't very busy. Ron was very pleased by this fact. The fewer people who saw him the better he would feel.

Ginny started talking. "Okay Rhonda, we need to get you some underwear, clothes and some robes for work. You can leave the tags on them until you need them. Oh, and some shoes. Let's go."

The three of them headed off into the street. The day seemed to be a blur as Ginny and Tonks dragged him from one store to the next, collecting bags of items. Certain things stood out from the others, like when he had gotten measured for his bras and when he was trying on robes. He was amazed how girly he looked. Thankfully, after a few hours they were done. Ron was exhausted by the end of it, though the other two seemed fine.

The grabbed a table at the Leaky Cauldron. While the other two were getting seated Ron hissed, "uhm…Ginny I need to go to the loo."

Ginny turned to look at him not comprehending the problem. "Well okay Rhonda. Go."

"Ginny!" Ron was getting a bit wide-eyed.

Tonks stood up, "Come on Rhonda. Let's go."

After they returned from the bathroom, where Tonks had made sure the room was empty, Tom came over to take their order. Ron blinked when he had been asked, "And for you miss?"

He had stammered his order and blushed. Tom had just smiled and headed back behind the bar. Their drinks arrived shortly and Ron sipped from his Butterbeer to hide his embarrassment. He was looking anywhere except at Ginny and Tonks, who had taken a moment to kiss each other affectionately. As he looked away he saw a familiar batch of nearly white hair. He turned back to Ginny and Tonks, "Is that Luna?"

The two Aurors turned and looked over where Ron had indicated. They looked at the girl drinking tea over by the fire. Ginny called out, "Luna!"

Luna turned around and looked at who called her name. She saw a table with three women, two of whom she recognized. She stood up and walked over. "Hello Ginny and Tonks. How are you?"

"Doing pretty well. How're you? I had heard you had disappeared after the war." remarked Tonks.

Luna smiled. "Not too bad. I was over in America for a while."

Ginny gestured for her to sit down and join them. Luna sat and Tonks used her wand to call over Luna's drink. "What were you doing over there?" asked Ron.

"Meeting new people and getting away from war. I just needed some time to do something different. By the way, who are you?"

"Uhm…" stammered Ron as Luna was looking at him closely. She noted the similar features to Ginny and cocked her head, looking at him. "My name is Rhonda."

Luna shook her head, "Why would you lie to me like that, Ron Weasley, and what happened? Were you attacked by Snarfblattles? They can do things like this you know."

"Uhm…" stammered Ron some more. "Bloody Hell. How did you know it was me?"

"You look like Ginny's sister and I know she doesn't have a sister." She looked at him with her wide eyes. "So, how did this happen?"

Ginny jumped in. "Rhonda has been hit by a curse of some kind. We're looking into what happened specifically, trying to figure out what kind of curse was used."

Luna nodded, noting how Ginny had emphasized Rhonda. "Is there anything I can do to help? I'm working for my father now and I have some contacts I can ask about this."

"I don't know. Hermione is busy doing some research and the rest of us are just trying to help Rhonda cope," replied Ginny. Ron was busy blushing again.

"Rhonda, did you know you're very cute when you blush?" asked Luna.

Ron choked on his Butterbeer. He got his napkin and wiped his face. "What?"

"Well you are." stated Luna.

The conversation was interrupted by Tom bringing over the plates of their food. Ron dug into the food, hoping to forestall any other talk as long as he could. Ginny, Tonks and Luna launched into an animated discussion about what they each had been doing since they had last seen each other. Luna congratulated Ginny and Tonks for becoming a couple and told them about her old girlfriend in the United States. Ron looked up at this. He hadn't known that Luna was a lesbian. This was almost as much as a surprise as when Ginny had let him know about her. He was wondering how Hermione would take that bit of news, along with the fact that Luna was back in the country.

Ron knew that he had some problems with gays. He wasn't sure why, and was sure that Hermione might not even know why she had issues either. He knew she just felt uncomfortable around anyone who was a lesbian. His problem was one of the reasons that they both hadn't really seen Harry in a while. Her issues were why they hadn't seen Ginny. Ron felt odd around Harry and Snape because of his part in their getting together. If only he hadn't grabbed that love phlither by mistake. Because his mistake had gotten his best friend with his most reviled teacher together, he just couldn't handle seeing them together. He knew his issue but he wasn't sure why Hermione felt the way she did. He personally didn't have a problem with lesbians. In fact, thinking about two women making out was always a nice picture for him while he masturbated.

He blinked when he realized that he was being talked to. "Sorry, what did you say?"

Luna giggled. "I was asking you how you were doing."

"Uhm…okay I guess. This is a good bit odd but I guess I have to cope with this until 'Mione can figure out how to fix it. I mean I don't really want to stay like this," replied Ron.

"Well, I am glad to have a sister now and _I _really like being a girl," stated Ginny confidently.

"Me too. Being a girl is fun, though I get to play at being on both sides of that divide." Tonks grinned and sprouted a big bushy moustache.

They all giggled at that. "Rhonda, being a girl isn't that bad. You may just have to get used to it and learn the really good things about being a girl," said Luna.

Ron nodded. "Okay. I still just hope that I can get back to being me."

Ginny laughed. "You big dope, you _are_ still you. Only your body has changed. You're still my annoying older brother, and now my older sister. Just cope, Rhonda. You get to experience something for a while that other people will never get to experience. Enjoy your time as a girl because it will only be temporary."

Ron smiled. "I guess. It's just odd you know. I'm shorter, I get cold easier and I have new body parts that I really don't know how to deal with. I just keep thinking there are only downsides to this whole thing."

"Try sex like this. It's a great experience and one you'll remember forever. It affects your whole body and it's just wonderful," said Tonks.

Ron blushed. Ginny noticed. "Oh my God, Rhonda what did you do?"

"I…uhm…touched down there, a little." Ron could feel the heat on his face building. He couldn't look at any of them.

Luna reached over and rested a hand on Ron's arm. "It's okay Rhonda, we all do it."

"Really?" Ron looked up, a little surprised.

"Oh yes. The girl's baths were even set up so you could get a stream of water to hit you just right. It is normal and nothing to be so embarrassed about," said Tonks. "Besides you could even do it in class, if you sat in the right way."

Ron looked confused. "How?"

Tonks smiled. "Well, you sit with one foot up and you get the heel into your crotch. You could rub against it or bounce your foot. But that certainly made Binns' classes easier to put up with. Sometimes I still do it in meetings. It just feels nice."

Ginny playfully swatted Tonks' arm. "Pervert."

The two of them laughed. Ron was surprised. He remembered seeing girls sitting somewhat like that all through school, and he had never known anything. He wondered if Hermione had done that while at school.

Luna stood up. "Well ladies, I have to get going. I have a story on Nargles to turn in. Rhonda, maybe we could talk some more and I can see what I can find out about this…situation."

"Thank you, Luna." Ron really did mean it. Any help in returning him to his real body would be appreciated.

Ginny and Tonks waved and Luna walked out to the courtyard. The two lovers looked at each other and then at the clock. "Time to head home Rhonda. We can help you put your stuff away."

"Thanks."

The three of them grabbed the bags and headed back to Ron and Hermione's home.

* * * * *

Luna appeared at her apartment and quickly went inside. She was so excited that she could tell that her panties were soaked. Ron was so sexy as a girl, with his short hair and perky breasts. She just wanted to tear the girl's clothes off and lick and suck them for a while. She pulled off her blouse and started playing with her breasts through the satin material. Her nipples tightened and she pinched them ever so gently, feeling the near pain but really pleasurable sensation.

She staggered to the couch and dropped onto it, her head propped up on an arm. She plunged her right hand down the front of her pants. She was very wet and her fingers slipped easily up and down, as she spread some of her fluids around her erect clit. She started rubbing her clit, occasionally sliding a finger inside of herself.

Luna could picture Rhonda with her on the bed, naked and kissing, their hands roaming around each other's bodies. Luna's kissed down Rhonda's neck, licking the small gap of the clavicle. Rhonda arched up with that. Luna continued kissing down until she reached the girl's firm breasts. Luna suckled on one, licking around the nipple, which grew harder under her tongue's careful work. She nibbled on it lightly and could hear Rhonda gasp in surprise and pleasure. Ronda moaned as Luna began to play with her other breast, occasionally rolling the hard nipple between her fingers.

Luna kissed and licked her way down Rhonda's body. She licked a circle around Rhonda's bellybutton and then continued down to her damp and musky vagina. The red hair was thin and soft. Luna nuzzled softly. She settled herself between Rhonda's legs and began to lick, tracing the lips with her tongue.

Rhonda moaned and ran her hands through Luna's hair, pulling the girl in closer, deeper into her wet pussy. Luna happily obliged. Luna flicked Rhonda's clit while she slid her fingers into Rhonda. Luna could feel Rhonda's muscles tighten about her fingers. She moved her finger in and out, feeling for that special spot. Rhonda's moans deepened, letting her know she had found it. Luna loved the taste and smell of Rhonda, enjoying every moment of this.

She sucked and nibbled a little on Rhonda's clit. She could feel the other girl's hands tighten their grasp on her hair. She closed her eyes and tried to work the girl closer to an orgasm. Rhonda's breathing got ragged, moans escaping continuously.

Suddenly Rhonda arched up, screaming wordlessly in pleasure. Luna could feel the muscles of Rhonda's pussy clenching, tightly entrapping the blond's fingers. She still moved the tips of her fingers until Rhonda came furiously, clutching the sheets and thrashing on the bed.

Luna moaned and came herself, her fingers flicking her clit and pinching one of her nipples. After she stopped and her fantasy faded, she laid there, a tangle of sweaty clothes, the room smelling of her sex. "Oh God, I so want Rhonda. What am I going to do?"

* * * * *

Hermione sat back from the book and rubbed her eyes. She had been reading for hours. Her eyes ached. She had only gotten a fourth of the way through the first book with no luck. At this rate the research was going to take at least twelve days. This was going to make Ron really unhappy.

She stood up and stretched, arching backwards. Her neck was a bit sore from sitting over the book. She did have some notes of things that were interesting and might prove to be good routes of investigation later but nothing so far on what she had been searching for. Hermione left the book on the table, packed up her supplies and walked out of the room. She closed the door behind her and walked to the stairs. She exited the room and made her way up the stairs.

Marge was still at the desk when Hermione reached the top. Hermione glanced at the clock. It was 6:30 in the evening. She knew she had been hungry but wasn't aware that she had worked all the way through lunch. She was looking to getting home and having some dinner. It would be nice.

Marge waved good night and Hermione walked out of the library and to the foyer. She took out her wand and apparated back home. She made it through the front door and dropped the bag on the couch. A voice called out. "Is that you Hermione?"

"Yes. I'm home."

Ron came running out to see her. Hermione was surprised to see Ron's breasts bouncing and didn't stop him when he hugged her tightly. She could feel Ron's breasts pressing against hers. She felt flustered and out of sorts by the sensation. When Ron let her go she felt a bit better. Ron looked happy. "Find anything yet?"

"No, not yet. But the books are there. They're three huge tomes. I only made it a fourth of the way through the first one today. I'm going back tomorrow to keep looking." She felt bad about not being able to give Ron better news.

"It's okay sweetie. I know you tried. And at least you found the book. I have faith in you. Want some tea?" With a flick of his wand Ron got the kettle on.

Hermione sat down. She reached up and rubbed her neck. Ron moved behind her and started to rub. Ron's slender fingers felt good on her neck. The skin was soft and not rough like his hands had been before. She liked how it felt. Ron worked out some of the knots until the kettle whistled. Ron came back with her cuppa and went back to work on her neck.

"So I bought some clothes and stuff. Ginny and Tonks helped me to put them away and move my guy's clothes out of the way. And we saw Luna today at lunch. She had been in America. "

"Really? How is she?" Hermione had her eyes closed, enjoying the rub.

"She seems to be good. She's working for the Quibbler and is going to look into this. I have no idea how much help she'll be but it is nice." Ron had moved onto Hermione's shoulders. They were tight as well. "Any idea what we're having for supper?"

"Honestly Ronald, is that all you ever think about?" She playfully swatted his hand, which kept working on the tight muscles of her neck and shoulders.

"Well, it's been a while since lunch and I am a bit peckish."

"I am too. Want to go out to eat? We can go get Italian down at Amerigo's"

Ron thought about it. True, they had gone out to eat the other night, right before this started, but pasta would be nice. He could really stand to have a bowl of Pasta Carbonnara. He grinned and kissed her on the top of her head. "That would be great 'Mione. Let me get a jacket and we can go."

They apparated there and walked on in. The got a table and made their order. Ron had ordered a glass of Lambrusco and Hermione did they same. The red, fruity Italian wine went great with everything that was served there. The waiter took their orders and the food was out to them shortly. Hermione was able to hear Ron while listening to the girl sitting across from her. It helped her to realize that he really was still in there. If only he wasn't a girl. She really wanted to sleep with Ron and couldn't, not while he was still a girl. It just wouldn't be right.

Finally towards the end of the night Ron toasted. "To us."

They clinked glasses and drank. It was the last of the wine. Ron had turned down the idea of desert, as he was full. "You know, if only they had fortune cookies this place would be perfect."

Hermione smiled at Ron. Then her eyes went wide. Surely it couldn't be that? "Ron, do you remember when we got Chinese the other night?"

"Yes, why?" Ron looked confused. He couldn't follow where Hermione was going with this.

"What did your fortune cookie say?" asked Hermione.

"Uhm…you will soon get something you have always wanted."

"Do you still have it?"

"Yes. It is in my wallet, back home. Why?"

"I think that may have been the trigger to the event. If so we might be able to fix this." Hermione sounded excited and sure of herself.

Ron's hopes soared. Could it really be that simple?

After the bill was paid, the two rushed home. Ron rummaged around until he was able to find the fortune. He looked at it closely. On it was written the words, "You will soon have something you have always wanted." There was also writing on the back in Chinese. 

Hermione pulled her wand free and tapped the slip of paper. A faint glow surrounded the slip of paper. "Yes! I knew it!" crowed Hermione.

"Bloody Hell. Residual magic? Well, what was the spell? The words give the impression of something other than what happened to me," said Ron as he ran a hand through his hair nervously.

Hermione studied the faint glow. There were different threads of color on the slip of paper. "From what I can tell the spell on this has weakened a little, so it may have miscast itself. It also looks verbal."

Ron was also studying the glow. "Those lines there connect to the writing both on the front and back. I think we need to find out what the Chinese says. This verbal line looks like an input."

Hermione leaned in even closer. "I think you're right, Ron. So whatever you were saying created the format for the spell."

The color drained out of Ron's face. "Bloody Hell." he whispered. "No way. No bloody way."

Hermione looked confused for a second and then realization hit. "Oh Ron, only you could find a way to curse yourself."

"I just thought I was blathering on about how unfair it is that I'm the youngest boy. I never thought…" Ron started crying and hugged Hermione. She held him as he cried, feeling his breasts press into her. She felt awkward holding her transformed fiancé. As he cried her thoughts turned to their dinner that night…

* * * * * *

"I tell you 'Mione, it just isn't fair. I get nothing but grief because of being the youngest boy. Fred and George think that because I'm younger I'm fair game. I get picked on all the time and I never know what trick they're going to test out on me next," ranted Ron. He was drinking Plum wine and his face was red from the alcohol.

Hermione smiled at him. She had heard this several times before. She could almost recite it, as Ron almost always seemed to let the rant go in the same direction. It was almost like clockwork. Next in the litany would come Percy.

"And Percy, he turns into a git and all I get is prodding to be just like him or something better. So I became Prefect, big deal. I knew I wouldn't become Head Boy. I never even wanted the position. But all because of Percy I had to be the perfect little boy. Sometimes I wish he had died in the war. Might have stopped her harping on me all the time." Ron took a big drink of his wine and sat the empty glass down roughly on the table.

Hermione sighed knowing that next would be Ginny, and then this rant would come to an end.

"And Ginny. Girl got to do whatever she wanted. Mom didn't mind her snogging boys. She never could do any wrong in her eyes. _Her precious little daughter._ Makes me sick." Ron broke open his fortune cookie and glanced at the fortune. He snorted and looked back at Hermione. "I swear, sometimes I wish I were a girl, then maybe Mom would treat me better. If I were her daughter, like Ginny, I bet things would be different. Girls get treated better. Life is better for girls. S'not right."

Hermione smiled at Ron faintly. This was the end of the rant. Now they could go home and do something else. She loved him but she was getting tired of hearing this rant all the time. She opened her fortune cookie and looked at it. "A journey of awakening is the hardest to walk."

'Honestly,' thought Hermione, 'Sometimes these things make no sense.

* * * * *

"Hush Ron…"

"Might as well call me Rhonda now," muttered Rhonda.

"What? Why? Where did that come from?" exclaimed Hermione.

"Well, Tonks and Ginny didn't want to embarrass me by calling me Ron, hence the name. I guess I really am going to get stuck like this." Rhonda was frowning and seemed to be fighting back tears.

"Ron…uhm…Rhonda…Ron, look we have a clue here and one which we can exploit. We know this is a magical curse and we know the source. Tomorrow we can go to St. Mungo's and see if we can get Neville to do a diagnostic scan. That will show all the magical influences on you."

"I know that," sniped Rhonda.

"And from there we can see what we need to do to unravel this spell. If it is Chinese in origin then it means more work, but I can call in my assistant to help with the research. We can beat this Ron." Hermione was really excited.

Rhonda smiled faintly. "That would be great. I can't wait for more people to see me like this."

Hermione hugged Rhonda and kissed her on the cheek. Rhonda tried to turn into the kiss, hoping for something more substantial but Hermione turned away as if she hadn't noticed. "I have to look into this more."

Rhonda followed her with his eyes as she bounded to the bookshelf. She had been really distant these last two days and it hurt. Rhonda wanted more than comforting words. She wanted Hermione to hold her in her arms, and kiss her. She wanted to hear Hermione say that she loved her. Rhonda was feeling cut off and confused by events. What the hell was she going to do? Rhonda slowly started to tear up as Hermione pulled down several books. Hermione was oblivious as Rhonda ran out of the room crying, trying to hide the sobbing until she could get a pillow over her face.

When Rhonda was cried out she got up and washed her face with cool water. Her eyes were red from all the crying she had done. She changed into her pyjamas and tip toed to the living room. Hermione had again fallen asleep on the couch, several books on top of her. Rhonda started to tear again, as she turned back to the bed.

What had gone wrong with her life?

Thanks to Gringylowe for "The Lecture" and this idea. I thought it was great and would be a fun reference.


	3. Chapter 3

This is a work of fiction using the characters created by J.K. Rowling. They are not used with her permission. All actions follow the events of book six of the series. Any similarity between any person living or dead is purely coincidental and unintentional. If you happen to find your life reflected in this piece I'll be impressed.

The Chalice and the Wand

Heather O'Malley

Story ideas by Heather and Wintermoon3

Beta by Redpiratemel

Chapter Three

Rhonda shifted uneasily in her seat. The chairs at St. Mungo's were not the most comfortable. People kept staring at her because there was nothing obviously wrong with her. With all the people smoking, bubbling, heads stuck in tea kettles, vanished limbs and the like, she stood out quite easily. She fidgeted some more. How long was it going to take Neville to get down here?

Hermione sat next to Rhonda, busy reading more of her notes, trying to see if there was anything of Chinese transformation techniques. She had that little furrow between her eyebrows that showed that she was really concentrating. Ron…Rhonda's fidgeting was bothering her, so she hissed, "Ron, please stop. I can't concentrate."

Rhonda went white and scanned the crowd. No one seemed to have heard what Hermione had said. Rhonda asked quietly, "Uhm…'mione…remember my name?"

She huffed and turned to look at him, "Of course, it is…"

At that point her brain caught up with what she was saying. Her cheeks went a little red and she looked down at her feet. "Sorry, Rhonda."

Rhonda put an arm around her and hugged her. Hermione tensed up but Rhonda didn't notice, as a man with swollen eyeballs was looking at them. Rhonda couldn't tell if he was staring at the two of them or just merely looking their way. She just couldn't figure out what was bothering Hermione. She had never gotten nervous or tense about public displays of affection before. Was it something she had done or had forgotten to do? Rhonda really didn't know.

A nurse came up to the waiting area and called for them. Rhonda and Hermione followed her into an examination room. There were all manner of magical analyzing tools lying about the room, each in their place. Rhonda took a seat up on the examination table and Hermione took a seat close by.

Rhonda swallowed hard. "Hermione, I'm really getting nervous about all of this. Do you really think that Neville will be able to fix this? I mean, if you can't, how can he?"

"Ron, Healers have access to more tools and know a large number of countercurses and are able to correct problems from both spell and potion mishaps. I am sure Neville will be able to take care of this." Hermione fidgeted a little and really found it difficult to look at Ron…Rhonda when she was talking.

"But what if I'm stuck like this? What will I do?" Rhonda was sounding whiny. The sound of Rhonda's higher pitch voice made it even more grating to her ears than normal.

"Ronald Weasley, just relax and wait for Neville. Honestly."

There was a knock at the door and in walked Neville. He was leaning on his cane, which was carved like a Norwegian Ridgeback. He favored his right leg as he hobbled in. He had a plain eye patch over one eye. He looked dashing, especially since he had finally grown into his body and turned out to be quite handsome after the war. But his physical scars remained. He smiled at Rhonda and Hermione. "Hello. What seems to be the problem? You really didn't tell me much in your owl, Hermione."

Hermione bit her bottom lip and looked over at Rhonda. Rhonda shrugged, and then Hermione spoke up. "Well, Neville. Ron here got turned into a girl and I can't seem to turn him back."

Neville looked surprised at that. He looked at Ron intently with his one good eye, trying to ascertain the truth. "Ron?"

Rhonda blushed a little and found that she couldn't look Neville in the eyes. "Yeah it's me."

Neville goggled at the transformed boy that he had known back in school. "So…Ron, are you…uhm…female…everywhere?"

Rhonda blushed. "Bloody hell, Neville, why do you think we're here?"

Neville laughed. "Yeah, that's Ron. Okay, let's see what's going on and if we can do anything about it."

Hermione smiled and Rhonda fumed at Neville's teasing. Neville turned and busied himself with pulling out a number of magical devices used for reading and analyzing magical energies. Hermione watched happily, as she loved some of these devices, though she wasn't able to afford several of them.

Neville set the devices to working on Ron and watched the readings. He frowned at things and cocked his head in confusion. He fine tuned the devices and tried to get better readings. After a while he stopped the tools and put them away. His brows were furrowed in thought.

"Well?" asked Hermione, apparently more desperate for information than Rhonda was.

"Ron doesn't seem to be cursed in the usual manner. There are at least two magical forces working on him. One seems to be a low level wish granting type of charm that has gone awry and the other is an odd, highly powerful source which I am having trouble nailing down. It seems to be old magic and very concentrated. That source seems to be why Ron is stuck like this. Unless I know what the two sources are then there is little I can do." Neville looked sheepish at this.

Hermione did not look pleased at this. Rhonda bowed her head. Hermione turned to Neville. "The minor charm was an enspelled fortune cookie that misinterpreted something Ron had said. I have no idea what the other could be."

"Oh, those. We've gotten a number of patients in due to faulty fortune cookie charms. I am not sure why, as the Ministry looked into the matter and found nothing awry there, except for some bad batches of fortune paper. That really shouldn't be able to do anything that wasn't correctable by a simple countercharm." Neville sat back, feeling a bit more comfortable with things after he had gotten an answer that made sense to him. "Wish I knew what the other one could be."

Rhonda's eyes went wide as she realized what the other source could be, and with that realization he groaned. There was no way that this could be fixed, was there?

Neville and Hermione turned and looked at Ron, their faces clearly asking for an explanation. Rhonda ran a hand through her short red hair. "Is this room secure?"

Neville nodded. Rhonda continued. "My job in the Ministry is studying various things in the Department of Mysteries. I have been working with two items that used to be Horcruxes: The Chalice of Helga Hufflepuff and the Wand of Rowena Ravenclaw. They hadn't been destroyed when the spell was broken, but they have been a bit…leaky. I have been working with them for a while, trying to figure out what had and hadn't been broken about them and tried to do some repair work. Would that fit the other part of things?"

Neville, wide eyed, nodded at this. "Yes, that would be enough energy to shift things and explain some of these readings. Maybe this will fade after a while, but I'm not sure. I would avoid any transformational magic on yourself for a while, at least until their magics have faded from you. Other than that, I can give you a note that will explain things to your bosses. That will take care of work."

Hermione handed over the slip of paper that had been the fortune. "Can this help break the spell?"

Neville nodded and examined it. "Yes. With this I would have been easily able to break this spell and return Ron to normal, if it weren't for the influence of those items. Sorry mate, but there isn't anything I can do at the moment. The residual magic that is all over you might fade in a few months or a few years. Sorry."

Rhonda felt herself beginning to tear up, as if she was going to cry. She tried to suppress that urge. It was a close battle. "Thanks for trying, Neville."

Hermione looked uncomfortable and turned away from both of them. This whole situation was becoming far too real and she wasn't sure what she wanted to do about it.

******

Luna awoke from a very passionate dream involving her, Ginny and Rhonda. She shook herself awake and got herself ready for the day. Rhonda's mysterious cursing was something she enjoyed looking into. Maybe she could take that story on, since she had finished her Nargle story. It would definitely be interesting. And best of all it gave her an excuse to see Rhonda.

First thing would to check in to see if there were any odd fortune cookie accidents. That could lead into the situation. That and see if anyone was actually doing anything about it. She guessed she had to go into the office and see if there was anything in the wind. That would certainly help her get back into the mind set of a reporter, and if she found things that could help Rhonda then it would be a good trip.

After she had a quick breakfast, Luna apparated into the Quibbler offices. She waved to her father as she headed towards Wanda Figg, who kept up with all the letters send in by owl. If there had been anything sent in about such a story she would be the source to ask.

Wanda was at her desk, going through several letters. The woman's frizzy grey hair seemed to be exploding everywhere and the bright blue eye shadow made her eyelids look droopy. Luna smiled at her. "Morning, Wanda."

"Morning, Luna dear. How are you today?"

"Quite well, actually. I slept nicely," she replied with a private smile. "Have we gotten any letters about fortune cookies cursing anyone?"

Wanda's eyes grew wide. "Fortune cookie cursing? How horrible."

"I thought so too," said Luna. "Have we gotten anything like that?"

"Let me look," replied Wanda.

While the other woman turned to the files Luna twirled her hair around her wand. She wanted to get to work, to help Rhonda. Of course, being able to see Rhonda again was a high point in that equation. It made her a bit slick just thinking about the redhead. There was just something about Ron as a girl that did it for her in a way that Ginny never had.

But Rhonda was with Hermione; after all basically they had true love, with no way for her to get between them. And she didn't want to. Those two had gone through so much and still managed to be happy. After Dumbledore had died, things had gotten very dark. Luna shuddered. She really didn't want to think about that. The memories were too horrible.

She headed over to the desk that her father had given her when she had returned from the States. It gave her room to spread out her stuff when she was working. She sat and decided that she needed a drink. "Accio Butterbeer," Luna chanted.

A bottle of Butterbeer flew toward her ad she caught it easily. She popped the top of it and poured in into her mug. The mug had kittens chasing after butterflies on it, their animated forms moving about. It was cute – a gift from Meli. She cherished the mug; it was a great goodness in her opinion.

Wanda bustled over her way, with a few scrolls in hand. She set them down on the table. "Here you go, Luna dear. I hope that this works out for you. I know it won't be as interesting as your Nargle article but it might prove fascinating. Makes me want to swear off Chinese takeaway."

Luna smiled. "I wouldn't worry about it Wanda. I might find out that it was nothing but a Weasley prank. You know what wonderful gags the two of them make."

"That I do. Poor Harold will never look at toffee the same." The woman walked off and Luna opened the scrolls. She took in the information, turning it over in her head until she was sure she had something concrete. All of these people had eaten at the same restaurant, the same one that Rhonda had mentioned. Maybe she needed to head down there and ask some questions. It couldn't really hurt and, after all, Rhonda was counting on her.

*****

Hermione had taken off for some more research. Rhonda paced back and forth about their place. That she had done this to herself was bad enough, but to find out that her work had only made things worse was another thing entirely.

She loved her work, loved working on the various projects in the Department of Mysteries. She would never be the wizard that Hermione was, but she had certainly improved since she had started there. Rhonda needed to get back to work. She felt so useless staying around their house. She sent an owl off to the ministry, explaining things and asking if she should come in.

She sat back on the couch and flipped through one of the photobooks of Colin Creevy. The kid seemed to be quite good at photography, and his pictures of the holy sites of Europe were really good. Hermione and she had been talking about going to see a few of the sites, including trying to find where the four great founders of Hogwarts had lived. Rhonda was sure the trip would be a lot of fun and well worth the time spent. 'Mione was always so much more fun when they were on vacation and she couldn't hide in her books. Just one reason to look forward to the honeymoon.

It had been nice to see Luna the other day. Rhonda had gotten over the whole mysterious, flighty air she had about her after their fight in the Department of Mysteries. Luna had certainly shown what sort of friend she was several times, especially during the war. She stood fast with them as the battle with Voldemort drew nearer. He had even gotten over the whole fling Luna and Ginny had. It took a while but once he had managed to come to terms with Ginny being a lesbian he was better able to forgive Luna.

Rhonda shook herself and rose from the couch. She really should stop moping and get back to work. If the Chalice and the Wand were responsible for this, then the solution could be with them as well. Maybe she would be able to get some answers at work.

She dressed in work robes and grabbed her wand. If she was at work she might be able to get her mind off of the whole gender thing. Besides, they had better sensors there.

Rhonda apparated to the Ministry and headed through the gates. She really hoped that her father had managed to set things in order, the guard was nice and all but she didn't want to answer too many questions.

The line was moving along fairly briskly. But then she saw it, the shock of white hair. "Bloody hell, Malfoy," she mumbled.

Rhonda looked about for a way out but really couldn't find one, however the commotion managed to attract Draco's attention. He heard the slight sneer, "Afternoon,Weasley."

She turned and was face-to-face with Draco. The look was priceless. "I…uhm…I'm sorry miss, you looked just like a school mate of mine. My apologies."

Rhonda smirked as Draco walked away. The mangy git was a hero of the war, sort of, and thus was not in Azkaban. He should be for what he did to Dumbledore. Well, almost did. Rhonda just wished she had managed to curse him before the last battle had been over. It would have at least given her a sense of closure over the whole thing.

The white-haired wizard turned and smiled back at Rhonda. As he turned away she remembered something she had heard back at Hogwarts, that when a girl is watching you walk away it means that she likes you. That meant Draco thought…

"Bloody hell." muttered Rhonda as she moved forward in line.

Thankfully the weighing of her wand was brief and she headed towards the lift. She just wanted to get to her office and get back to work. The lift kept going down, stopping at various floors and letting various wizards and witches on and off, as well as a number of the paper airplane message carriers. She was the last one off the lift and she breathed a sigh of relief.

She walked down the long hall and thought about the fact that her father had nearly died in this hall and if it hadn't been for Harry he would have. She shuddered. Losing her father would have destroyed her whole family. Everyone depended on him so much.

Rhonda got to the door and stepped into the Department of Mysteries. When she got to the rotating door she took the correct door that led to her area of the Department, Analysis of Magical Artifacts. She worked with a small team working to figure out the mysteries of older magical items, items that no one remembered how to construct. Rhonda really had learned a great deal since she'd been hired there.

As she was heading to her work area one of her supervisors walked by and nodded. "Weasley."

Rhonda stopped in her tracks. She turned and watched as he walked away. How? What? Why?

She entered her work area and set down her purse. She wanted to get some more work done and it had already been too long since she had fiddled with the items. But then again, maybe the items were why this whole thing was happening. She shrugged on her protective robes, meant to protect against a lot of magical spillage and headed into the room with the two artifacts.

The fact that he was able to hold something that Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw had once used was really an awesome feeling. She could feel their power and a sense of their antiquity. It was a humbling experience.

She went over and looked over her notes. She had finally managed to figure out the Chalice had been broken by the Horcrux. If she could just figure out how to fix the gap, the Chalice would be whole again. She ran over the list of spells she had tried. It was long and very thorough. She stared at the Chalice thoughtfully.

Maybe the problem was the fact that the Chalice had been warped like she had been. Maybe some of the spells Hermione had used might do the trick. She nodded as she rolled the problem over in her thoughts and took some notes. She could get that list tonight after she went home.

Once the Chalice was whole she might be able to figure out how its magic had been able to affect her like this. It was really one of her only hopes. And if her solution worked for the Chalice then maybe it would work on the Wand. She had to fix these things if she wanted anything resembling an answer. She nodded and got back to work.

A few hours later there was a polite knock at her work room door. Rhonda put away the Chalice and stepped out of the heavily shielded room. There was one of her co-workers waiting for him, a witch by the name of Ethileen Fordham. She looked at the woman quizzically. The woman was returning the same look. "Yes, Ethileen?"

"I'd heard about your curse. Would it be possible to run a few tests on you…to get a better idea of what happened? After all, we wouldn't want this to happen to anyone else." Rhonda nodded. It did make sense.

"So, any idea how this happened?" asked Ethileen.

"Actually, yes, I do. I went to St. Mungos earlier and they ran a full series of tests on me there. What seems to have happened is that the energy that has been leaking out of the Chalice and the Wand had affected me somehow. When a fairly simple Fortune Cookie wish happened to go a bit awry, the magic from the artifacts kind of supercharged the spell," explained Rhonda as they headed towards Ethileen's Department.

"Really? Kind of makes you glad to have not been hit by a jelly-legs hex," Ethileen laughed, as Rhonda froze in her tracks. She had never thought about that aspect of things. She would have been stuck like that until they had been able to find a way to deal with the magics. Rhonda swallowed heavily.

Ethileen had noticed that Rhonda had stopped. "Is there a problem?"

"I just realized how lucky I was. If I had been hit with something like that I never would have been able to be countercursed. I would have been stuck like that. Bloody Hell." Rhonda nearly fainted but Ethileen moved up and supported her.

"It'll be okay dear. Let's get you to my office and I can take a look at you," said Ethileen as she supported Rhonda.

She pulled free her wand and lifted Rhonda from the ground. Rhonda preceded her, as she was floating through the air, her head still spinning. Maybe she should call it an early day?

******

Hermione sat in the library, staring glumly at the pile of books in front of her. She knew the answer had to be out there, but where? If it was the magic of the two Artifacts that Voldemort had used as Horcruxes then Ron was the only one who could find that out. She wanted her fiancé back. She missed being able to be held in his arms, missed lying against him and watching the fire. This…woman had replaced him.

One part of her was aware of the fact that Rhonda was really Ron, but it was so difficult to remember that whenever she saw him. It was like being in bed with Ginny. She was also running out of things to say to Rhonda to keep from kissing her. Hermione shuddered at the idea of kissing another girl. It was unnatural.

She struggled to keep from crying. Maybe she and Ron needed to be separated while they worked this out. She didn't want to divorce Ron, but she couldn't stand Rhonda. Hearing things Ron used to say with a woman's voice gave her the creeps. Maybe she could find a decent way to make this happen without all the emotional trauma that was sure to happen.

What was she going to do? She really didn't have anyone to talk to who really was impartial. Ginny didn't see a problem with the situation. Of course she wouldn't. Ginny had slept with Luna and then ended up in bed with Tonks. She wouldn't see anything wrong with two girls sleeping together.

She wanted her Ron back, her infuriating, clumsy Ron. She was so in love with him that it only made this situation worse. Because of how hopeless this all seemed she was starting to feel like Ron had died and this other person had taken his place. And what kind of name was Rhonda? Honestly, who was he fooling?

She looked over her pile of books and sighed. She was still looking for information on the basic features of a Fortune Cookie Wish spell. That would help her narrow down her research, so she had a better chance of saving Ron and ending this horrible charade.

Hermione rubbed the back of her neck. The strain of sitting hunched over these books was starting to tighten her neck up way too much. She didn't want to stop; she needed to help Ron, for both of their sakes. This whole situation was making her crazy and she had no idea what to do about it. Hermione had the good sense to realize that she wasn't going to manage to do anymore work today, at least none of any quality. She stood up and leaned backwards, stretching her back out. Maybe there was no solution to this whole thing? Maybe Ron, her beloved Ronald, was stuck as a girl? Hermione didn't want to accept that. She wouldn't have gotten as far as she had in both school and work if she simply gave up as the first sign of trouble..

She wiped tears from her eyes. This hurt far too much. Her perfect life was falling apart. This whole thing hurt worse than when Ron was flirting around with other girls at Hogwarts. This hurt worse than some of the deaths from the War. Being with a girl was repulsive and yet she was now stuck married to a woman. True, it was Ron, but she only knew that intellectually, it didn't reach into her gut. Her gut only knew that there was a woman in her bed, sharing her life and she didn't want that.

Hermione sighed and headed out of the Library, waving bye to the staff. It was easy to tell that she was lost in her thoughts. She apparated to the Leaky Cauldron. She desperately needed a drink.

She managed to find a table in the corner. Tom had seen her and headed over. "Mrs. Granger, how can I help you tonight?"

"Can I get a Butterbeer please?" Hermione almost asked for Leprechaun Lager, but it was a bit strong for her, since she was a total lightweight. Tom nodded his head and headed back to the bar.

Hermione really wanted to talk this out with someone who wasn't a Weasley. She wanted to work out her feelings without them getting too emotionally involved. She tried to think of anyone she could get a hold of to talk to.

There was always Harry. He would probably say nothing to Ron about the whole thing if she asked. He would understand the need. She really couldn't think of anyone else. Maybe she could drop in at his place. If he wasn't home, the odds were that he was up at Hogwarts seeing Snape.

She drank her Butterbeer in silence. There was also Neville, but she hadn't connected to him as much as she had with Harry. She really didn't have too many girlfriends she could talk to. Maybe Cho, even though the girl worked for her now. It might make work difficult, but she wanted a sounding board for her thoughts.

As she finished her Butterbeer she realized that Harry was really the only one she could talk to. He knew Ron as well as she did. She left the Leaky Cauldron and apparated to Harry's apartment.

There was a light on in one of the windows, so he was probably home. She walked to his front door and knocked. She hoped that he actually was home.

She was surprised when a shirtless Harry opened the door. She could see the faint web of scars he had gotten during the war. His hair was as unruly as ever. He did seem a bit surprised to see her. "Hermione? What's up?"

"I need to talk to you about Ron."

"About the whole 'he's a girl' thing?" asked Harry, motioning her to enter.

"Yes. Harry, you know how I feel about this. Seeing Ron as a girl everyday is making me miserable. I can't fix this, either. I feel useless and all confused." Hermione sat heavily on one of Harry's couches. She really hoped the she could get the advice she needed from Harry.

Harry had gone into the kitchen, pulling on a dressing gown. Hermione could hear him making tea. "So what is it really that is messing you up – the girl thing or the fixing thing?"

"Both actually. I mean honestly Harry, in effect Ron managed to do this to himself. His work combined with a fortune cookie spell did this. What can I do?" Hermione looked up, pleading with Harry to help make things all right.

"Alright. With the fixing thing…Hermione, you were the one who managed to find out everything I needed to know about Horcruxes so I could beat Voldemort. You are the best at finding solutions to problems. I know that if you keep working at it you will find a solution. It might take time, but you definitely can do it." Harry brought out two cups of tea. He had made hers just the way she liked it. She smiled in thanks as she took the cup.

"I'm not so sure. Harry, I've been going through the Library, looking for anything that might give me a clue and I've found nothing. I don't even know what to look for, a spell, countercurse, potion, and it's making me batty." Hermione took a sip of her tea. "I mean, honestly Harry, I'm at a loss at how to proceed."

Harry sat and thought a bit, sipping his tea as he tried to work things. He nodded and then looked up. "Okay. What if you try to figure out how to do each? They each have their strengths and weaknesses. If you already tried the countercurses then maybe that isn't how to go about it. Maybe you need to look at either potions or some sort of spell to change things back?"

Hermione thought about that. "Maybe I do. It could also be a combination, which would be frustrating. Maybe a potion to change one thing and a spell to change the other?"

Harry smiled at her. "See, now you're thinking like the Hermione I know. Remus always said you were the smartest witch of your generation. I think you got the highest scores in your OWLs since Lord Voldemort. I…I actually looked it up."

His broad grin made Hermione smile as well. "Thank you Harry. I do feel better about this. I think I can do this, it just requires more research, and I'm good at that."

Harry shifted forward, hold his tea cup in both hands. "Now…about the other thing…the whole Ron/Rhonda thing. What's the problem?"

Hermione shifted uneasily. She was growing embarrassed. "Uhm…I…I can't stand this Harry. I know it's Ron in my head but when I look at him all I see is a girl and that's wrong."

Harry's eyes narrowed some. "It's wrong?"

Hermione blushed. She hadn't meant it to come out like that, even though it was the truth. "I mean, I just can't kiss Ron now, or hug him or anything. It's wrong."

"Why? Because you might look like you're a lesbian?" replied Harry to her statement. "What's wrong with that? It is Ron you'll be kissing and such."

"But Harry, the whole idea makes my skin crawl. I don't think I can do it." Hermione looked down, unable to meet Harry's eyes.

"Are you saying that homosexuals make your skin crawl?" Harry asked quietly, his voice contained and tight.

Hermione realized that things were not going well. Maybe she said too much about her feelings? She really hadn't wanted to piss off Harry. "I…I mean…Harry…I…"

Harry looked down at the floor and sighed. "What is it about us that does that?"

"Well, I've always believed that real love was between a man and a woman and everything else is an abomination." She said this quietly, ashamed to be admitting it. She loved Harry, and Ginny and Tonks as friends and the fact that their preferences in partners made her queasy was one of her biggest shames.

Harry sat back, shocked. It was clear he had never expected one of his best friends was a bigot. "Why? It's just love Hermione. No one can really tell you who to love. Your heart does and you can either follow your head and miss out or follow your heart and find happiness. Do you think I had planned on falling in love with Severus?"

"I guess not. I mean it was all Ron's fault." Hermione was quite flustered. This was not going at all like she had hoped it would.

"Ron's mistake was one of the best things that had ever happened to me. There was a reason for Severus to be acting the way he did to me and it wasn't just that my father had treated him like crap. He had had a crush on my father and had been spurned. Then when I showed up I brought those feelings back and he actually learned that he loved me more." explained Harry, hoping to get some sense through to Hermione.

"But Severus killed Dumbledore!" Hermione tried to emphasize that point. She had never truly trusted Snape after that despite what Harry said.

"Yes, he did. He was acting under orders. You know that. We aren't talking about that. We are talking about you and your bias against homosexuals." Harry was calm, almost too calm. Hermione recognized he was holding in his anger. How had this gone wrong?

Hermione protested. "I don't have a problem with homosexuals. I treat them like I do everyone else."

Harry sighed and shook his head. "You may treat them the same but you believe them to be…tainted. So you are afraid to touch Ron, your fiancé, all because a spell fucked up and made him a girl. I thought you loved Ron?"

"I do love Ron!" Hermione was getting angry and her voice grew more strident.

"Then what's the fucking problem? It's still Ron. Ron, the stupid git that tried to curse Malfoy when he called you a mudblood. Ron, who has loved you for pretty much ever. Ron, who asked you to marry him and has made you happy. That Ron. Who cares if he looks like a girl?" stated Harry, trying to pound sense into her.

"I do!" screamed Hermione. She was starting to cry. "I wanted to marry a guy and not a girl. I just get all…all twitchy when I get close to Ron. I mean, honestly Harry, he's going by Rhonda now."

"What are you going to do Hermione, leave Ron, the love of your life, if you can't fix this? Desert him in his time of need? He needs his fiancé, the woman he loves. Fucking cope." Harry was almost ready to blow. He couldn't figure out what was wrong with her.

Hermione was weeping, sobbing. She fumbled for her purse and rose shakily to her feet. She couldn't take it any more. She pulled out her wand and apparated before Harry was able to do anything to stop her. He screamed in frustration and tried to figure out where she could have gone. He needed to check on Ron and maybe the two of them could find her. They had done it before.

He pulled on his work robe. It made it easier to find people if he had all of the tools he used as an Auror. He stopped and looked back at where they had been sitting. Her glass of tea had gotten knocked over in her hasty departure. He sighed. He could clean that later. Now he had to deal with helping Ron and Hermione.


	4. Chapter 4

This is a work of fiction using the characters created by J.K. Rowling. They are not used with her permission. All actions follow the events of book six of the series. Any similarity between any person living or dead is purely coincidental and unintentional. If you happen to find your life reflected in this piece I'll be impressed.

The Chalice and the Wand

Heather O'Malley

Story ideas by Heather and Wintermoon3

Beta by Redpiratemel

Chapter Four

"Well, Miss Weasley, it does rather seem that the magical leakage from the items is responsible for your current condition." Eithleen put her wand away and started returning some of her magical tools to their places.

"I figured that once the Horcrux was removed from them that they would lose a great deal of their power, but they haven't. It is almost as if they are trying to heal themselves." returned Rhonda. "Could that aspect of their magical output have had an effect on this?"

Eithleen thought about it for a while, pursing her lips in a way that reminded Rhonda eerily of professor McGonagall. The elder woman tapped her chin with her fingers as well, which Rhonda thought was peculiar. Did any of that actually help with your thinking? It just looked odd.

"That very well could be. Some of the older magical items held a great deal more power than we have been able to put into objects for the last hundred years or so. I have no trouble believing that those objects are trying to heal. Would you like me to take a look?"

"Could you? That would be a great help, because if they are healing then that might be a clue to my condition and help provide a means to repair the objects. That might be the key to things." replied Rhonda as her thoughts raced through the implications.

She handed the items over to Ethileen and sat down to think. She may not have been the brain that both Harry and Hermione were, but she wasn't an idiot. If the items were trying to heal, then that meant there could be a clue as to how to overcome their power through the way they were made. But how would she be able to find that out?

She figured that she could look in the library, to find things on item creation. That was more Hermione's thing but she did know how to use a card catalog. Maybe if she just looked up Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw she could find either clues or answers. Those might lead her to answers. Maybe she would have to learn how to make objects like these in order to do this? Or perhaps it would be simpler to figure out the mechanism that kept her trapped in this form?

Rhonda headed to the special books library of the Department of Mysteries. Hopefully she would be able to find something that would give her any clues into finding out about this…curse. She was a bit tired of always having to sit down to pee and she looked like she was terribly fragile compared to before. Things had to change.

She was a bit downhearted though. Research was something Hermione did best. Rhonda had actually gotten the job in the Department of Mystery because of her encounters with the brain things and her work in defeating Lord Voldemort. Being a hero had a few perks. She had worked hard to prove her worth to the Department and she had done well so far.

She went to the round room and went through the door to the library. The room was filled with books, all the most powerful magical books in the Wizarding world that the Ministry had managed to collect. Maybe the Librarian would be of some help.

Behind a smart looking desk, with everything arranged neatly and orderly sat a woman who looked to be in her fifties, her hair tightly wound up in a bun. She didn't smile. No one could recall if the woman had ever smiled. Rhonda walked up to the desk and politely asked, "I am looking for anything that we have on Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff as well as the construction of really powerful magic objects."

The woman nodded. Her voice was dry as she responded, "How soon do you need these books?"

"As soon as possible." replied Rhonda.

"Very well. I have twenty-three books that deal with what you have asked about. I can have them brought to your office as soon as I have collected them."

"Thank you." said Rhonda and she really meant it.

"You are quite welcome Mr. Weasley."

Rhonda was a bit put off by the Librarian's response as she certainly didn't look like she had before and besides she had never met the woman before. She headed out to the circle and realized that she wanted a bite of lunch as her stomach rumbled. Rhonda went back to her office, quickly grabbed her coat and purse and headed out.

She didn't want to eat at the Leaky Cauldron, as she didn't want to have to deal with anyone she might know. Things were awkward enough as it was with her transformation and she was in no mood to have to explain it to anyone. She got into the foyer and apparated to the nice Greek restaurant that Hermione had showed her.

It was a quiet place, with a steady clientele. The walls were white and decorated with pictures of various famous places in Greece such as Athens and Olympia. It was quaint and the food was really top notch. She found a table and sat as there was no one who sat customers. She liked that, as there was never much of a wait for a seat.

Her mouth was parched and she wanted a pint of bitter but wasn't sure how it would affect her. Rhonda knew she shouldn't be drinking when she was still working but things had been hectic lately. And besides what harm could one pint of Bitters do? She shrugged and ordered it any way, along with the souvlaki plate. It should be good as she had gotten it last time she had been here as Ron.

She was half way through her pint of bitter and the majority of her food when she caught a familiar flash of white hair in the foyer. Rhonda looked up and it wasn't Luna, but rather Malfoy, who was busy scanning the room. "Bloody Hell."

Draco smiled brightly and headed straight towards Rhonda. His smile was charming and it made Rhonda a bit sick to her stomach. She did not need to be chatted up by the Weasel. "We meet again, hopefully in better circumstances."

Rhonda had no idea what to say. If she responded like Ron her attempt to hide in plain sight would be foiled, however if she said nothing then the white haired git would stay. Malfoy would certainly pass all of this along if he found out the truth. She was completely at a loss for what to say. "Uhm…Hello."

"May I join you?" Draco was doing his suave best and it was only making Rhonda more uncomfortable. Malfoy was definitely trying to chat her up. Did Draco fancy her? Oh, Ick!

"Uh…" That pause was enough for Draco and he sat down across from Rhonda. He took the opportunity and tried to turn it to his advantage like he always had.

"You really do look like a Weasley, but I do know that Ginny doesn't look as good as you. I am sorry I was mistaken. Can you forgive me?" Draco stared into her eyes, his own soft and vulnerable. It was a good trick.

Rhonda blinked a few times, trying to process all of this. It was true, Draco fancied her. Bloody Hell! What was she going to do? How was she going to escape this without a wizard's duel in the middle of the restaurant? "Uh…I'm sorry, I have to get back to work. You know how it is."

Draco frowned a little, out of frustration. He shifted tactics immediately. "Perhaps I could meet you after work. I know this great place we can go for dinner."

"Uhm…maybe. I am sorry but I have to hurry off." Rhonda stood and scrambled over to the cash register to pay. She was still hungry but if she put anything else in there she was going to vomit. Draco Malfoy fancied her? Rhonda just shook as she apparated away, taking care to properly focus so she didn't end up splinched.

******

Hermione stared blankly at the pile of books. All she could think about was Ron and what Harry had said to her. She desperately loved Ron but she was uncomfortable with the whole girl thing. She wasn't a lesbian. She had never kissed a girl, except for that one time when Ginny had kissed her, after Hermione had saved her from some Death Eaters. But that was it. And she hadn't really kissed back.

She…she really was uncomfortable about the whole thing and didn't want to deal with the issue. As Ron looked now, she couldn't bring herself to be intimate with him…her…whatever he was now. She just started getting nervous and nauseous and wanted to escape whenever they got close. She didn't know why she felt this way and she hated that. Her life was supposed to be orderly and sane.

It also wasn't simple disgust or disgust at homosexuality however, yet there was something disturbing about wanting to kiss Ron and seeing Rhonda's face looking back. It was so much like that kiss with Ginny that had shocked her and made her freak out some. She wasn't sure of the why it was but the whole thing made her twitchy. Maybe it would be best if she simply left and took some time to work things out, to get her head on straight again.

She was hurting Ron and she knew that and hated that. She didn't want to hurt him but really could think of no way to get over things. How could she kiss Ron now when hugging mashed their breasts together or she had to lean down to kiss him or the fact that his lips were soft? It was all so confusing but she knew that she wanted her Ron back. Rhonda just made her feel nervous and butterflies danced in her stomach at the thought of the red haired arrival.

She grabbed her trunk and packed it with a few quick swishes of her wand. She had to leave. She was only making herself miserable and making Ron miserable at the same time. It was for the best. At least she hoped so.

She wrote a note to Ron trying to explain all of this and took a long look around the house. Their home. She was going to miss sitting by the fire, drinking a cuppa with Ronald snuggled against her. She was crying when she turned around and said good-bye.

******

Harry was waiting for Rhonda when she got back from work. He was sprawled on one of the couches in front of the fireplace. When Rhonda flooed in she was surprised to see Harry sitting there. It was definitely unexpected.

Harry looked about the same really, well maybe a bit more filled out. He had gotten stronger after the war and he was now the top Auror, better even than Mad-Eye Moody. Dark wizards had more than one reason to fear the boy who lived. Harry was dressed causally, but he had his working satchel with some of his main tools sitting next to him. Was this a business call? Rhonda was worried. She also noticed that Hermione wasn't there. She scanned the room again hoping she had merely missed her in the surprise of seeing Harry.

"Evening Ron."

"Evening Harry. What brings you here?" Rhonda was really wondering where Hermione was. Maybe research kept her? She was like that, always losing track of time when she was around books. That was the most logical explanation.

"You actually. It's about Hermione and what's been going on with you." Harry wasn't smiling which never was a good sign.

"What about Hermione?" asked Rhonda, rather confused.

"Maybe you should read the letter that's on the table." stated Harry sadly.

Rhonda looked over and spotted the scroll sitting on the kitchen table. It wasn't sealed and that surely meant that Harry probably knew what was in it. He hadn't said anything so it had to be bad. She opened it nervously and looked down at Hermione's cursive script.

Ronald,

I am sorry that I have to do this but it hurts me to see you as a woman. I cannot bring myself to hug you or kiss you or make love to you because of it. I know that it is still you in my head, but my heart is having trouble dealing with the fact that you are a woman now.

This greatly disturbs me and I know I have to get my head on straight. I don't want to lose you but if I can't find a cure I am not sure if we have a future. I know this hurts and it is tearing my heart as well. I am still working for a cure because I want to go back to my husband, not my wife.

Please let me have the time to find my answers and to find a way to look you in the eyes without flinching. I am dearly sorry that my issues are causing this situation. I want us to be together but I can't do that right now. Please forgive me.

All my Love,

Hermione

Rhonda dropped the scroll numbly. She staggered over to the couch and fell onto it. What had happened? Was it something she had done? Was this her fault? What was going on?

Harry leaned forward, obviously concerned. "Ron…"

"Rhonda." mumbled Rhonda as she pulled her feet up and began hugging her legs. Her eyes were welling up with tears.

"Rhonda then. I am sorry. I don't know what is going on with her. Last night she talked to me and she was…well very homophobic, which is out of character." stated Harry.

"Hermione? I don't believe it. I mean she started SPEW and has been active in pushing for greater equality in the wizarding world. I have trouble seeing her as homophobic. I mean she seems okay with your and Snape's relationship. I don't get it but it's your life. She has even done her best to get same sex marriage approved. I still think it's my fault." blathered Rhonda, her head spinning as she tried to grasp the situation.

"This thing with Hermione or with Snape?" asked Harry, confused. Sometimes when Ron really got going he made less and less sense.

"All of it. I mean, what the hell is going on? Are the planets in retrograde or something? My life is falling apart and I can't handle it. What the hell? Isn't this body punishment enough?" Rhonda started to cry, fat tears rolling down her face to splash onto her work robes. Harry moved over to the couch and took Rhonda in his arms, trying to comfort her. He murmured soft words to try and get her to relax. It slowly worked.

"I am here for you." He said simply.

"Thanks mate. What am I going to do?" Rhonda looked up at Harry with tear filled eyes.

Harry smiled faintly. "You were always a bit slow on the uptake. She hasn't left you for good. She is just freaking out over the fact that you are a girl right now. She wants to get you back to being a guy because of her issues with girls. I don't know what they are but that is the root of this problem. It isn't you, ya git."

Rhonda nodded and looked at the fireplace. Her thoughts were all about Hermione and how she had said that she would never leave. So much for that promise.

"Can you stay? I really don't want to be alone tonight." asked Rhonda, looking up at him with puppy dog eyes.

"No, I can't. However I have already gotten a hold of Ginny. She should be here soon. I need to get back to Hogwarts. I have a lecture tomorrow morning in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. They seem to think that I know what I'm talking about." Harry chuckled. "I am just a floo away though. You are my best friend and I will be here to help."

Rhonda nodded and sat there watching the fire. She just wanted her life to return to what it had been. Was that so difficult? "Want a cuppa?"

Rhonda turned her head and looked over at Harry, who was in the small kitchen. She hadn't heard him get up. "Uh…please."

Harry returned shortly with the pot of tea and Rhonda drank hers slowly as she watched the flames dancing. They kept her from thinking too much, which was a good idea in her opinion. Suddenly the color of the flames turned green and Ginny stepped from the fireplace. She rushed over and gave her new sister a hug. Harry rescued the cup of tea before Ginny reached Rhonda.

"Oh Rhonda, I am so sorry." That got Rhonda crying again and both sisters cried on each other. Rhonda felt safe in her sister's arms and let out all the pain that she was feeling. After a while Rhonda slowly stopped crying and only sniffled.

"What happened?" asked Rhonda, wiping her face.

"I don't know Sis, but she has been a little off since this whole thing has started. I plan on talking to her and trying to figure out what to do. This whole mess is just crazy. I mean, is this the end for both of you?" Ginny was clearly upset by this situation as well.

"I don't know Ginny. I didn't see the ring any where, so there is some hope. But what did I do wrong?" Rhonda sobbed that last question.

Both Harry and Ginny hugged her. Harry murmured, "It will be okay."

"How? How will it be okay? I love Hermione and she left me. All because I have tits? What the hell is up with that? I didn't do anything wrong and now I'm being punished!" Rhonda was clearly getting mad.

"We'll get this worked out Rhonda. It will be fine." said Ginny, trying to calm her raging sister down.

Rhonda looked pissed. "It's not my fault that the stupid fortune cookie affected me this way. How were we to know that the objects would affect me like that?"

"I know Rhonda. We'll talk to Hermione and figure out what to do. Will you be okay tonight?" asked Harry.

Rhonda thought a bit. "I'm not so sure. I just want to get drunk and try and forget things for a while."

"Ginny, are you able to stay the night?" asked Harry, turning to his ex. Her still had feelings for her but he was now happier with Snape and Ginny was quite pleased with Tonks. He was happy for both of them.

"No, but I know someone who can. She will gladly help." replied Ginny.

******

Luna came in to the room from the floo network. Ginny was sitting there with Rhonda. Rhonda looked like hell, with lines from tears tracking down her red face. She immediately knew that something was majorly wrong and she didn't know what it could be. Maybe it was an infestation of Garflats? They were known to have this sort of effect on people. That must be it. Her father had written about it in the Quibbler.

"Are you alright?" she asked Rhonda, worried.

Rhonda looked up, her eyes red from the crying. "What do you think?"

"Well, I think that you look like you have been crying and are possibly quite angry for some reason. But since I am not sure of the situation overall, I asked you how you felt. I really hate assuming." replied Luna, explaining what she thought.

Rhonda sighed, Luna was off being Luna again, and said. "Hermione left me."

Luna had two reactions. One was shock at the fact that Hermione could do something like that to Ron. The second was a surge of desire that she could possibly have Rhonda now. She managed to keep those reactions off of her face with some effort. "What happened?"

Rhonda gestured towards the letter. Luna headed over to the kitchen table and read the scroll a few times. There was a lot left unsaid in the letter. It seemed to Luna that there was something else that was the problem but she couldn't quite figure out what it was. She needed more information before she could really make up her mind. "So Ginny asked me to stay over and make sure you don't do anything stupid. Is that okay?"

Rhonda looked at Luna and then Ginny with disbelief and some irritation. Ginny bristled at this and said. "Please. I know you Rhonda Weasley. You probably plan on drinking a full bottle of Firewhiskey on your own and to drop unconscious on the floor that is if you don't puke all over yourself. Right now you need some one to keep you from doing something stupid. Just humor me."

Rhonda nodded. He had never really won an argument with Ginny in her entire life, well maybe when she was a baby. Ginny stood up and looked down at her sister. "Luna will take care of you. I have to get home. Tonks and I have some work to do early in the morning. Take care sis."

Ginny hugged Rhonda tightly and flooed from the apartment, leaving Luna and Rhonda alone. Luna looked at Rhonda and asked, "Have you had dinner?"

Rhonda shook her head. Luna shrugged and headed into the kitchen. She might be able to find some thing that she could prepare. "Have you checked to see if this is all due to Garflats? Their bite can be pretty nasty, making you cry and get red faced and get into arguments with people. They are a really bad thing to have an infestation of. My father has done a great deal of research into them. He wrote several penetrating articles on the subject."

Rhonda rolled her eyes. Looney Lovegood was back in action. Luna moved through the kitchen trying to calm herself down. She did not want to jump Rhonda and ruin the friendship she had with her only friends in Britain. But she was wet, a slickness was dampening her panties, sliding between her legs and that was distracting. Her body wanted desperately wanted Rhonda and her mind was trying to tell it to wait. Her heart was conflicted which didn't help anything at all.

And what about Hermione? Hermione had been a good friend and now she had done this. Maybe Luna could simply be a good friend to Rhonda? She could simply be there for the poor suffering girl. And who knew where things could lead after that. Her life had already been a bit too odd and interconnected thanks to Harry. Maybe she should just be Rhonda's friend and see what happened? It was a tough choice considering another part of her was imagining what Rhonda tasted like in vivid detail.

She fixed both of them something edible and simple, spagbol. Rhonda came over listlessly and tucked into the food. It was plain that she enjoyed it but was distracted. Luna kept spacing herself as her imagination pictured her being the happy homemaker with Rhonda as her wife. She tried to get it out of her mind but things were so domestic right now that it was difficult. She didn't want to mess things up.

After dinner Rhonda did get out the bottle of Firewhiskey. Luna looked worriedly over at her. This was something she figured she needed to stop. She looked at Rhonda with concern plain on her face. Rhonda replied, "Come on Luna. I just want to get a little drunk and not have to think about this whole mess for a while. Look, if you drink with me then I can't drink the whole bottle."

Luna nodded. That did make sense. She nodded in agreement. "Okay. But just a little."

******

Hermione sat in her hotel room and cried. What had she done?

She felt like she had thrown out one of the best things that had happened to her in her life. This hurt worse than when Dumbledore had died in her sixth year. She wanted to be with Ron and not Rhonda. She kept repeating that to herself over and over like a mantra, even though a little part of herself fluttered awake whenever she thought about Rhonda and the way the light hit her hair or how cute the freckles were. She wanted her husband, or rather her fiancé back. She wanted to marry him and not her.

Hermione grabbed one of the texts she had picked up from the library and turned to her notes. If she buried herself in her work she might be able to stop dwelling on this whole matter. She had to find a way to fix this. There had to be a cure and she had to find it. She had to.

She went over the information she had gathered over and over again. There simply had to be a cure, there had to be. There was no magic that could not be countered except Avada Kadavra. Surely this transformation spell wasn't like the death curse. There had to be a counter curse or some sort of charm that could change her back.

She had gone through a small mountain of books already and she had voluminous notes on the subject. She almost had enough research to turn this into another book. She didn't care about that. She only had one goal in mind, getting her husband back.

She had to have him back because if she couldn't find a cure she couldn't be with Rhonda. That would break her heart and she didn't know if she could recover from that. Ron was her strength and without him to lean on she felt lost, cut off from all she knew. She couldn't imagine leaning on Rhonda for help even though it was still Ron in there.

She didn't want to touch that body, with its curves and the promise of familiarity. She didn't want to kiss those lips even though she could look into Ron's eyes. She didn't want that body to bring her to pleasure because it was wrong. Maybe not for everyone but definitely for her. She wanted to feel the strong muscles of Ron's back as he made love to her. She didn't want the softness that was Rhonda's body.

With a quick flip of her wavy hair she lay back on her rented bed and began to read through the next book, her quick quotes quill waiting for her notes. Maybe the answer she was looking for was in there? Maybe?


	5. Chapter 5

This is a work of fiction using the characters created by J.K. Rowling. They are not used with her permission. All actions follow the events of book six of the series. Any similarity between any person living or dead is purely coincidental and unintentional. If you happen to find your life reflected in this piece I'll be impressed.

The Chalice and the Wand

Heather O'Malley

Story ideas by Heather and Wintermoon3

Beta by Redpiratemel

Chapter Five

Rhonda padded towards the bathroom. Her head ached, throbbing in time with her heart beat. She made it to the bathroom but she was so lost in the post drunk haze that she lifted the lid and tried to take a leak in the old way.

Urine sprayed all over him. Rhonda looked down and then muttered, "Bloody Hell, not again."

A hot shower followed by a cold one really woke her up. Her nipples were hard from the cold but she wasn't too concerned. She got dressed, no longer struggling with the bra. She was trying to rub the sleepy out of her eyes as she stumbled out into the living room. When she saw Luna sleeping on the couch all of the events of last night came crashing back, worse than the hangover.

Her sobs woke Luna. Luna quickly went over and hugged Rhonda tight. While it would have been nice to have taken advantage of the situation last night, it wouldn't have been an act of friendship. She murmured soothing words into the short red hair, trying to get Rhonda to relax some. After a while it seemed that Rhonda had cried herself out.

Luna helped Rhonda to the couch. She then hustled to the kitchen to make a quick cup of tea. Rhonda needed the tea, as the magical essences in the tea leaves would help her to relax. Luna had studied those, as there had been several adult education classes on Herbalism she had attended in Salem. There had been lots of classes on calming teas. Apparently America was a stressful place.

She looked over into the living room and Rhonda was still shaking, though there were no more tears. Once she had the water in the pot she carried the whole thing over with two cups floating along behind. She set down the pot and then grabbed the tea cups and set them down. Rhonda was curled up on one end of the couch.

Luna scooted over and hugged Rhonda. "It'll be okay, really. I had a friend of mine look at your planets and it doesn't look all bad. Things will work out."

Rhonda looked up, her eyes red. "How can you say that?"

Luna looked confused. "What? That things will work out? But they will. I saw no signs of any infestations of any of the usual creatures that cause these things, so it is just a disagreement. Those can be fixed easier that an infestation."

"What?"

Luna sighed and sat back primly. "This seems to be a simple case of misunderstanding, which means we can fix this. Maybe she simply has got some sort of mistaken notion in her head? We get that out and it's all good."

"I can't see how this is a misunderstanding. Hermione left me. She left because she couldn't cope. What does she think I have been trying to do? Does she think this has been easy for me? This whole thing has been driving me insane. And she can't cope?" Rhonda was clearly upset, her voice raising through the whole thing.

"Well then. Maybe you should simply get on with your life? Simply deal with this on your own and not worry about her. She will either come around or she won't." replied Luna calmly, hoping that her longing for Rhonda wasn't making her advice less accurate.

Rhonda sat there with the idea floating around her head. She had no idea if this spell could be reversed. If it hadn't been reversed by now or had faded then it was doubtful that an easy solution to this problem would arise. She would have to get on with her life and just try to cope with things. Maybe she would be able to at least find out more about Chalice and the Wand.

"I think I am going to go on a trip. I don't know if I can handle being here day after day, with all these reminders of Hermione all around me."

Luna was a bit surprised by that. Rhonda was going to actually try and deal with this? Ron hadn't been known for moving on; in fact he had gotten all tangled up about a number of things all through their school years. Maybe this change had actually had been good for him. "Are you going to tell anyone?"

Rhonda thought for a minute. "Yeah. I'm going to talk to work and maybe get some funds for this. I also need to grab my camping gear from my Mum's house. That should be about it. I can leave Hermione a scroll if she even cares."

Luna could see the pain through the resolve and attempt at sounding brave. She couldn't let Rhonda travel around with all of that, without someone there to help. "Can I come with you?"

******

Hermione looked up as someone opened up the study room. Harry walked in and he did not look happy. Hermione looked away. She couldn't meet her friend's eyes as she was embarrassed by the way she had treated Ron. But what else could she have done? She looked at him, tears glistening in her eyes. "You've heard?"

"Bloody well right I heard. What were you thinking Hermione? Ron has loved you forever it seems and you do this to him?" It was clear that Harry was not pleased by the way his first real friend had been treated.

"Her." Hermione said this sadly. "It's her now Harry. Ron's a girl and there is nothing I can do. It's not like I hadn't tried with a girl, especially with the way that Luna and Ginny were eying everyone. But it didn't do anything for me. It was wrong. And it's not like I don't want to be with Ron, I do, with all my soul, but Ron's not Ron anymore. He's a she. I…I can't do she's…"

Harry strode over and took her in his strong arms. She cried out her pain and loss against the Boy Who Lived. Harry scanned the room, wishing he could see something that could help. There was nothing. "Hermione, Ron is still there. He is. You can see it plain as day in the way this girl still bumbles exactly like him. If you love him, really love him, look past the body and into who he or she really is. That's the reason I'm with Snape. I saw past what I thought into the truth of who he is. You can do the same."

"I don't think I can Harry. I'm afraid to even try, because if I fail I'll lose him forever." She began to sob some more, clutching at the heavy, armored Auror robes that Harry wore.

"Hermione, you are losing him by acting this way. How do you think he is going to react to this? He's stubborn and when he gets upset he pouts forever practically. Remember that bit with the Goblet of Fire? It took almost getting burnt to a crisp for him to realize I had been telling him the truth. With this chain of events…who knows?" Harry rubbed her hair and then held her out at arms length. "Is that what you want to happen?"

She shook her head, her curly hair shifting. She let out a muffled "No."

"Then maybe you need to go back there and let Ron or Rhonda know what you feel and try to work it out like adults. There is not need to freak out. Honest." He gave her another hug. "Now Floo the git and work on getting back together."

Hermione wiped the tears from her eyes and headed to the fireplace. She threw some of the powder into the fire and as the flames turned green she put her head in the flames, announcing where the call was supposed to go.

As her face pushed out of the coals in their apartment, she realized that the lights were off. She didn't see anybody there. "Ron? Rhonda? Anyone there?"

There was only silence in the room.

Hermione pulled her face out of the flames and looked at Harry. "There's nobody there."

Harry and Hermione both grabbed powder and Floo'd over to Ron and Hermione's flat. It was quickly evident that there was no one home. A quick check of the bedroom showed that someone had packed, messily. Empty bottles were in the living room and there were signs that the bed and couch had been used for sleep.

Hermione was getting frantic. Where had Rhonda gone?

******

"Thanks Mom, I'll bring everything back." Rhonda hugged her mother.

Mrs. Weasley looked a bit sad. "I know you will. I'm just sad that things with Hermione didn't work out."

Rhonda shrugged the backpack into place. It was carrying lots of supplies for the trip. Her department was fine with the trip and had given her a healthy stipend of Galleons to cover it. The camping gear was old but serviceable. The tent was the one that they had stayed in at the World Cup match. It was singed a bit, but overall in good shape.

She was meeting Luna at this little village called Batsworth by the Dover coast. There was a nice inn there where they would have lunch and then Floo across the channel. Ginny was going to meet them there and assist in what ever last minute things needed to be taken care of.

"I'm sorry too. What did I do Mom?" Rhonda looked sadly at her mother.

Molly took her newest daughter into an enveloping hug. "Nothing at all Rhonda. Sometimes these things happen. She might get her head on straight and come find you. That would be a good start. Now, off you go. If you have any trouble in France floo your brother for help."

"I will Mom." With that she took a handful of floo powder and tossed it into the flames. "Batsworth!"

She stepped out into a small tavern. Luna was easy to spot, as that white hair was obvious. She was drinking a mug of something. She turned and smiled at Rhonda, her radish earrings wobbling.

The food wasn't bad. Rhonda had Bangers and Mash, with some ale to wash it down. Luna got the Fish and Chips and was using Brown Sauce instead of vinegar. Rhonda looked at her oddly, but Luna didn't notice or didn't care, one or the other.

After they had both tuckered in, Ginny came out of the fireplace with her partner Tonks. Ginny smiled and hugged her sister tightly. "I'm gonna miss you sis."

Rhonda found that she was crying and felt overwhelmed with happiness touched with melancholy. "I'll miss you too. Thank you for all the help you have given me so far."

She shrugged. "What are sisters for?"

Tonks looked over at the bags, "Got everything?"

Rhonda nodded. Ginny sat next to Luna and Tonks next to Rhonda. "I think so. I have the detectors I am sure I'll need. I got a broom packed, in case I need that as well."

"Got plenty of food?" asked Ginny.

"Yeah. Got lots of stuff. And plenty to drink. We may need to pick things up but they gave me a real nice stipend." Rhonda was fairly sure she was ready for this.

"Just be safe sis, there are still Dark Wizards running around and this search can bring them your way." said Ginny.

"I'll be safe Gin. I got Luna to watch my back, a bunch of detectors and everything. I even have a hold out wand, just in case. I'm not going to do anything stupid. Honest." Rhonda was sure that her sister cared, but she was an adult and did sort of know what she was doing.

Ginny nodded, her face turning worried. "Look, I'm sorry about Hermione. She's being a prat. Nymph and I will try and talk some sense into her, okay?"

Rhonda's eyes grew wet, thinking about Hermione. She had gone on plenty of adventures with 'mione and Harry and now the woman who she loved had abandoned her. After everything they had been through, to leave her over this. She fought off the tears, hurt and anger giving her the strength to pull them back. "Thanks Gin."

The hug surprised Rhonda. Ginny held her sister tight and whispered in her ear, "No worries Sis. I'll do what I can."

The fireplace flared green and two tall redheads dressed in expensive dragonhide suits stepped out. Fred and George spotted the group swiftly and sauntered over. They grinned broadly. This made the others nervous and more alert.

"We managed to get some…" began George.

"…information about the fortune cookie spell." finished Fred.

Everyone looked expectantly at them. It was clear that the twins were enjoying the spotlight.

"It seems that this particular company…" explained Fred.

"Wei Ling Lam's." supplied George helpfully.

"…has been in business making such fortune cookies for a while"

"About thirty-five years."

"And has been using the same process the whole time."

"And we get the spell." George's grin was wide and excited.

"And we have been working on a Transformation Toffee, so that has been very helpful."

"Any idea if we can fix this?" It was clear that Rhonda was desperate for a solution to this particular problem.

"Sorry Ron…da. The spell lasts twenty-four hours, max." George laid a hand on his recent sister's shoulder comfortingly.

Rhonda sighed in surrender. Luna rested a hand on her back. Rhonda turned and smiled at the white haired Ravenclaw. It was a small smile of thanks. Ginny and Tonks watched this and then turned to face each other. It was clear something passed between the couple, just no idea what that could have been.

As the two stood, pulling on their packs. Ginny motioned for Luna to join her, apart from the others. Once they were together the youngest Weasley grew some what stern. "Luna, don't hurt Rhonda. She has enough going on without other things messing it all up."

Luna smiled at her old lover. "Don't worry Ginny-bear, I won't try to hurt Rhonda."

Ginny's look softened. "Help her Luna. I know Ron was usually a prat around you, but Rhonda is really vulnerable and in pain. She needs help and a friend."

"I will do that."

The two hugged, each fitting into the others arms easily, still knowing each other well enough to do that.

Rhonda and Luna headed for the fireplace. Luna had gotten the reservations for them at a nice village near Karlsruhe, at the northern tip of the Black Forest. Luna grabbed the Floo powder and went first. Rhonda smiled at everyone one last time and then vanished in a burst of green flame.

******

Hermione was cried out. This whole situation was making her crazy and she wasn't sure what to do. So, she went to her office to do some work.

Cho Chang was busy working when she entered. The Ravenclaw was busy with research on several of the spells that Hermione had been working on. The Asian girl didn't even look up as her boss walked in.

Hermione set her satchel down on her desk as she dropped into her chair. There was nothing she could do now except keep going on. Her secretary, Regina, came in with a mug of tea and some messages.

The former Hufflepuff smiled broadly. "Here are all the messages from the last few days. Also we got a Floo from America. Some gent from California is coming to interview for the assistant job."

Hermione looked up. Assistant? Then she remembered that she was looking for another research assistant. Chou needed help with the work load and this new position should fix that. She nodded. "Do you have his resume?"

Regina beamed and handed over a folder. Hermione opened the folder and scanned the sheet. They had certainly done very well in Potions and Transfigurations. That might make him a good addition to the team. She nodded her head again, her thoughts working nicely on the problem. "Let him know that I would like to see him tomorrow if at all possible."

As Regina left, Hermione turned to her work. It was hard to focus. She kept thinking about Ron. She ran through her years at Hogwarts, all the good and bad things that had happened between them. She loved Ron, with everything in her and had for years. This spell had torn them apart and now she was left without half of her heart.

What made it worse was that she could clearly see Ron in the woman's face. It was her Ron with breasts and a vagina. Her Ron transformed into something…different. This Rhonda was not her Ron. She wasn't! Hermione was angry over this, wanting to lash out at something. Rhonda had been the target of opportunity. She didn't want to imagine that woman's face covered in tears. She didn't want to imagine the sounds of the sobbing after reading that letter. Hermione didn't want to imagine what this could have done to Ron.

She wiped tears from her eyes and threw herself into her work again. She would find a cure. She would get her Ronald back, whatever it took.

******

Luna watched Rhonda as they headed to the Potrtkey they needed for this trip. The Floo to Calais had gotten them to the Juncture, where a great deal of the international traffic went through. It was clear by the set of the Weasley's shoulders that she was upset and struggling to hold it in. If it was just from the situation or because her now slighter frame didn't forge through the crowd as well wasn't something she could answer. There were too many things that it could be, maybe even all of them.

Garflats were attracted to this kind of spirit and it worried her. They made the depressed feeling contagious, moving from one person to another. That was harder to fight than taking them on early, before the nesting and spreading phases began. Rhonda glowed like Garflat bait. It looked like she needed to do something to change the situation.

With her thoughts directed to the problem, she came up with an answer before they reached the portkey to Germany. It was an audacious plan and one that could end up with her old school friends never talking to her again, but it was the only thing she could think of to help Rhonda and Hermione be happy again. It was inspired and just a bit crazy with more than a dash of sexy. With a deep breath, she resolved to set her plan in motion and help her two friends.

The portkey was a moss covered rock with a splotch of red on it. Luna took Rhonda's hand as they moved towards their destination. Rhonda glanced over at Luna questioningly but did not release her hand. Luna smiled encouragingly. She really did want for Rhonda's happiness and she would make sure she could make that happen.


	6. Chapter 6

This is a work of fiction using the characters created by J.K. Rowling. They are not used with her permission. All actions follow the events of book six of the series. Any similarity between any person living or dead is purely coincidental and unintentional. If you happen to find your life reflected in this piece I'll be impressed.

The Chalice and the Wand

Heather O'Malley

Story ideas by Heather and Wintermoon3

Beta by Redpiratemel

Chapter Six

"My name's Derek Rogers, ma'am. I have worded extensively in the fields you have been looking for. I applied because it sounded like an incredible opportunity to work under the best witch in the world." The young man had a soft Texas drawl that went along with his cowboy good looks. At six foot two he also stood heads and shoulders above the other applicants she had seen so far. His rugged face was attractive, though Hermione struggled to keep from thinking about the kissability of those lips.

"I see. It says that you live in California right now?" Hermione was struggling to focus on business, rather on the paths her thoughts were taking her; of running her hands down Derek's back.

"Yes ma'am. I moved there after I finished school. I've been taking some classes at Berkeley. But I was born and raised in Texas, in this little town called Dumont. That's where I was before going to Salem." He stood there casually, dressed nicely in black jeans that hugged his body and a white dress shirt. He looked quite fetching like that and it was making Hermione's libido run overtime.

"What sort of classes were you looking into there?" Keeping things focused was difficult and thinking about Rhonda impossible.

"Well ma'am, I was working on various curses and counter curses, as well as spell construction. When I heard about this opportunity I rushed on over, as you have done more in this field than anyone else has in over fifty years, if you don't mind my saying." The flattery felt nice. Having a hot, muscled man compliment her was nice and somewhat new. Hermione knew that was what he was doing, but she didn't shut him down for it. She just basked in it, glad to feel something other than sorrow.

"I've read your recommendations and they all speak highly of your work. Let me see a few more applicants and then I can make a decision." The interview was certainly at an end and Hermione was sure she had just found her new assistant. He was smart and a good bit of eye candy.

"Well, thank you ma'am. I'll be staying at the Leaky Cauldron. Hope to hear from you soon."

He stood and walked out of her office. Hermione couldn't help but stare right at the man's ass, packed tightly in those jeans. Once the door was closed she sighed heavily. The view had been quite nice both ways.

As she sat there, daydreaming about some alone time with Derek, thoughts of Rhonda entered her head. Shame followed shortly by indignation ran through her. Was it bad of her to dream of such strong manly hands holding her, when her Ron was gone? Rhonda had disappeared, leaving no note, nothing to let her know where she had gone. What had she done with her life, her love?

***

The detector was not being overly helpful, with the needle spinning about to eventually point back at Rhonda. When Luna tried, it pointed at the transformed Weasley as well. Rhonda sighed and put the item back into her back.

The bag she was wearing held all of their camping gear, as well as all the tools needed to find Hufflepuff's work area. It was obviously well hidden by spell and nature, especially after a thousand years. Luna was carrying their food and such in the rucksack she had on. The two of them were sharing the load.

Rhonda sat down on a fallen tree. The Black Forest in Germany was the best bet for the lair of Helga Hufflepuff. There were plenty of wooded valleys which could be the spot. So far, however, it was avoiding detection. She wished that Hermione were here, she would be able to help solve this issue.

That thought brought tears to her eyes. Rhonda's heart ached with the fact that Hermione had left him all due to his transformation to a girl. That hurt more than anything else. She had left her all due to something actually beyond her control. She started to cry softly as she sat there.

Luna hated to see her friend in any pain. She cared for Rhonda, who was different that Ron Weasley had been. This might be a good opportunity to get her plan in motion. It was a long shot but the only thing she could think of that could work to fix things between Rhonda and Hermione. With that she hugged Rhonda and as she held the girl gently, kissed her on the forehead. "It'll be alright."

Rhonda started a little but then relaxed and hug back, grateful for the human contact that she had been missing. Rhonda felt safe and comforted there and life didn't seem so bleak. She closed her eyes briefly and leaned against Luna, pretending that it was Hermione holding her.

As Rhonda sat back up, Luna asked, "Feel better?"

Rhonda smiled, realizing that she did feel better. "Yes. Thank you."

"Any ideas for getting the detector to find something other than you?"

Rhonda thought for a moment. What if she tuned the item to search for anything of that nature from a space five meters from where they stood? That way it would make Rhonda and her charged energy field something invisible to the item. She smiled and nodded. "I think I got it."

After the change in the detector they were able to get a signal that led them south, deeper into the Black Forest area. Rhonda whooped with joy at the fact that the detector worked right. Luna excitedly hugged Rhonda and slipped in a quick, chaste kiss. "You are amazing Rhonda."

Rhonda, still excited by figuring out a way to make the detector work, was thinking to herself, Bloody Hell. She was having thoughts, naughty thoughts about someone other than Hermione. It was kind of mind boggling, but if Hermione didn't want her it seemed clear someone else did.

Luna smiled, happy for Rhonda figuring out how to change the search parameters of the detector as well as excited about the kiss. The first kiss was always the hardest and this way that tension should be broken. Maybe Rhonda would be the one to make the next move. That would be ideal. Maybe things in the tent tonight would be interesting.

***

Hermione rubbed the back of her neck. She didn't really want to hire Derek, as the American was for too much of a temptation to her, but out of all the applicants he was obviously the most qualified. Two days of interviews had only confirmed what she had already known. Derek was going to become a new assistant here.

She stared into the fire of the flat she had shared with Rhonda. It felt empty, too large and made her want to cry. She needed to find Rhonda and fix things, but how could she do that? Hermione was sure that she wouldn't be able to deal with Rhonda physically but what choice did she have? Harry had been right; Rhonda was still Ron.

She had to do something. She had to talk to Rhonda. Shaking her mass of curls, she realized that she had been such an idiot. Ginny. Ginny would know. She grabbed some Floo powder and tossed it into the fire. She knelt and put her face into the green flames. "Ginny Weasley."

Various places flickered past until it settled on a flat. It was Ginny and Tonk's flat alright, but she didn't see anyone. "Ginny?"

"Ginny?" Hermione was beginning to wonder if the girl was even there. She then heard a somewhat distant grumbling, "Coming."

A few moments later a sweaty naked Ginny walked into view. Se didn't even try to cover herself and Hermione got a clear view of the woman's curly red triangle and somewhat puffy lips. She was flushed as well. Oh my God! What had she interrupted? "Uhm…Hi."

"Yes?" The voice wasn't as friendly as Hermione was used to. It was quite clear that Ginny was less than pleased with her.

"Ginny, do you know where Ron..da is? I need to speak with her." Saying the girl's name that had been given to Ron was tough but she managed to get it out.

"Yes I know where Rhonda is but I'm not telling you." With her arms crossed under her breasts lifting them and her legs spread defiantly Hermione got to see more of Ginny than she had ever really wanted to. And what was worse is that Ginny looked very similar to Rhonda.

"Ginny, could you please put a robe on or something?" pleaded Hermione. "I just want to talk to him…uh…her. I want to tell her I'm sorry."

Ginny stared at her and Hermione could see Tonks in the background, wearing a robe and holding one for Rhonda's little sister. "How can I believe you? You really hurt her, you know that. You broke it off with her, so why should I care about what you have to say?"

"I…I don't know Gin, I don't know what to do. I can't stand this whole thing and it is making me crazy. I know you and I had those few weeks together but I don't really feel anything towards Rhonda. She doesn't do it for me. Gods, Gin, I don't want to loose Ron. I love him and always have." Hermione started crying and covered her face with her hands, embarrassed to be crying in front of Ginny.

Tonks moved forward and handed Ginny the robe, whispering in her ear, "Love, we should probably talk to her. She is still our friend after all."

Ginny nodded. As she was putting on her robe, her girlfriend asked Hermione to come on through. Hermione nodded her head and managed to work the Floo correctly, to appear in their flat. Tonks helped her to the sofa and Ginny set about making some tea. From the banging coming from the kitchen, she was working out some stress while she was there.

Tonks hugged Hermione across the shoulder. "It'll be okay. Let's just work this out. You and Ronda are a great couple, and you shouldn't change that just because of this transformation."

Hermione sniffled and she fought back the tears. It was a struggle for her to compose herself. Ginny was heading back with the tea by the time she managed it. Ginny plopped into a chair, pouring herself a cup of tea. "So, what did you have to say?"

"Ginny, I'm sorry I hurt Rhonda, I really am. I want to talk to… her and try to explain things. I just…I just have this problem. The idea of sleeping with Rhonda turns my stomach."

"Gee, thanks." grumped Ginny, upset over the implication it made towards her.

"Its not that Gin. I did enjoy our couple of weeks, I really did. I don't know why this is different but it is. I can't figure out what is wrong with me." Hermione looked down at her cup of tea, gazing into the golden brown liquid. "Nothing makes sense anymore. All I do is struggle to come up with some way to return Rhonda to Ron. And just seeing her reminds me of my failure."

Ginny looked at Hermione, obviously distraught, and her gaze softened. She felt bad for not realizing that while Ron had been coping with being turned into a girl, Hermione had to deal with her fiancé being transformed. While everyone had been there for Ron who had been there for Hermione? She hugged the curly headed woman. "I'm sorry for being such a prat. I wasn't thinking about what you would be going through. Sorry."

Hermione sniffed and smiled weakly at Ron's sister. "Thank you."

"So, what do we have to do to help you deal with all of this?" asked Tonks, glad that she didn't have to be mad at one of the Heroes of the Wizarding World.

***

Luna's plan had been working so far. She and Rhonda had been growing more intimate as the days went along. It had been tough to follow the trail on broom without getting spotted by muggles. She was better on a broom than Rhonda was but it still wasn't much easier. Her muscles ached from having to shift position, hide, hike and generally dodge various people. Her offer the first day of a massage had been accepted by Rhonda and as Luna had run her oily hand down Rhonda's shapely leg she whispered prayers of thanks to Mel's insistence on massage lessons.

The first night she had just worked on the girl's legs and feet, eliciting happy moans which went right to Luna's crotch. As things went on, she went from just legs, to legs and back and now, after three days of traveling, Rhonda had happily agreed to a full body massage. This was her chance to turn things up and really get things in motion.

Luna was using a warming oil she had learned to make back in Potions. Snape had insisted that they learn some of the more medicinal uses of magically infused oil and ever since then she had been using them. Rhonda was lying face down on the massage table that Luna had conjured, naked under the sheet. Luna was ready to get things to take a different turn, as Rhonda had reacted well to the growing intimacy.

She paused for a moment, wondering if what she was doing was wrong, if she was doing something reprehensible. After running through things again, it was the only thing she could think of to bring the two back together happily. Besides, if she returned to the United States, she was sure the Mel would be able to help her get settled. And if this really went awry, she could head to Australia and work as a foreign correspondent for her father.

The oil warmed in her hands as she rubbed them together in preparation. She worked on first one foot and then another, with Rhonda moaning happily as the tension left them. She worked up each leg, taking her time, letting her hands drift closer and closer on the inside of the legs. Rhonda moaned and let her legs drift open. Luna smiled. It was working. She drifted her fingers in closer, until her hands were just brushing against the lips of the girl's vagina. Luna then moved to massaging Rhonda's ass.

After working out the few tensions there, she shifted up to the back, using more oil. She could smell that Rhonda was getting aroused and this increased her own arousal. After some work on the back, especially on the tensions under the shoulder blades and through the neck, she finished with the girl's arms and hands. "Rhonda, flip over."

Rhonda complied, moving rather sleepily. Luna again started on the legs, working the feet and on up. She again drifted close to the girl's vagina, letting her hands brush the wispy red hairs of the bush. More moans and the smell increased. Luna moved on, to finish with the face and head.

Once she had finished she stepped back from the table. Rhonda opened her eyes slightly, the desire clear on her face. Luna said softly, "All done."

"Hunh?" was the clever response.

Luna helped her to her feet, trying to keep the sheet wrapped around her. Rhonda stumbled towards the sleeping area. When Luna helped the Weasley girl sit onto the edge on the bed and turned to go, a freckled hand stretched out and stopped her. "Don't go."

"Are you sure? I mean, there could be Garflats about."

"I'm sure. Please, stay." The need was raw on Rhonda's face.

Luna smiled and cupped Rhonda's face gently. She leaned down and kissed her companion gently, a slight bit of tongue running between the others lips.

Things turned more passionate and soon the pale skinned Luna was lying next to the freckled Rhonda. Rhonda was a bit tentative in her caresses, but Luna let her explore. When things shifted back to her she let her kisses drift down the neck to swirl around a breast. The change in breathing showed just how much Rhonda was enjoying that. She flicked the darker nipple with her tongue and began to suck. The arched back kept showing how well Luna was doing.

The pale haired girl's hands drifted lower, to tease the redhead's pubic hair, brushing it lightly and occasionally tugging at it. As the hips began to thrust themselves upward, Luna let a finger slide between the already swollen and slick lips and dance over the clitoris. The effect was instantaneous. Rhonda moaned deeply, the sound trembling her chest and the sensation rolled up her body.

Between Luna's sucking of her nipples and the way the girl's finger's played with her, Rhonda felt herself explode into a feeling she had never experienced before. She almost screamed, and Luna never stopped until she kissed her way down to her vagina and tongue flicked her clitoris. Rhonda drowned in the sensations that ran through her body, eventually reaching a screaming, shuddering crescendo. She collapsed in a sweaty heap, her limbs like pudding.

Her voice reverently whispered, "Bloody Hell."

***

Hermione shook her head as she worked her way through the passage again. Her Latin was good, but the mix of Latin, Greek and Old English was almost too much for her. It was slow, painful going but seemed to have some useful information. This text was talking not about sex change but rather how items of power changed spells and potions. The amplification effect was incredible and the more powerful the object the greater the amplification. This would explain Voldemort's fascination with using such items for his Horcruxes. The power that filled those items might just transfer over into him. That bit of information helped to explain just how powerful the Dark Lord had gotten. It also explained why a minor little spell like the one on the fortune cookie had so majorly affected Ron.

The energy from the artifacts that he had been working with had filled Ron so when the fortune cookie spell reached out, it had many, many times more power than it needed. That would also explain the reason why the counter spells hadn't worked, they simply hadn't had the power needed to break through the spell. This passage should be able to help her figure out what she had to do in order to bring back her fiancé.

"Miss Granger?" Derek's voice broke her concentration.

She looked up, a touch annoyed and said briskly. "Yes?"

"I was wondering if you wanted a bite to eat, seeing how you've been working for about eight hours non-stop on that." The concern was clear and Hermione both craved and was frightened by it.

She looked up at her clock. Derek was obviously correct. She stood and stretched, reaching for the ceiling. The move felt good. "I could do with some supper. I can always take another crack at it tomorrow."

"Would it be alright if I joined you ma'am?"

"That would be fine. Any idea where you would like to go?"

"'fraid not ma'am. I've hardly been outside of the Leaky Cauldron or Diagon Alley since I've been here. I don't really know what's good here to eat." Derek shrugged and Hermione enjoyed the way his well defined muscles moved under his shirt. It was a lovely sight, much more so than when Ron had done anything like that.

"Well, Derek, you're in luck as London has the widest array of food available in the world. What type of food are you interested in right now?" Hermione had been impressed with her new assistant and was quite impressed with how smart he was. The drawl certainly made you think he was less intelligent than he really was. It was a surprising thing.

"Well now. How about something new for me, Indian."

"You've really never had Indian?" said Hermione, honestly surprised.

"Not too many Indian restaurants in my town. Actually only two restaurants in my town and one was a Mickey D's." remarked Derek, so I would be fine trying something different."

They left the office and headed towards a restaurant that Parvati Patil had told her about. It was affiliated with the magical community but also did business with the local Indian community. Hermione had gone there several times with Parvati and had been deeply impressed. Ron had said he wasn't a fan of curry, as if that were the only thing served there. Sometimes he was so narrow minded. At least Derek was willing to try it.

They had apparated to a small area that the restaurant kept clear for the purpose and headed around to the entrance. The food was enjoyable and Derek seemed to actually enjoy it, making comments about the chapatti, curry and the chicken tikka masala. Hermione smiled, happy for a light moment in her life.

Derek and she walked the streets after dinner, chatting about various books they had read and ideas they had about various other spell creators. They shared a lot of opinions, with only minor differences. Hermione walked close to him, enjoying the male smell of him. She had missed that since this whole issue with Ron/ Rhonda started. After a while, Hermione said her good nights and headed home, appearing in the doorway of the flat. The lights were off, just like she had left them.

She looked around the darkness, using the faint light to see the furniture. Things were much lonelier than she had expected but then again she had never lived alone in her life ever. She had gone from living with her parents, to the dormitory at Hogwarts to this Flat with Ron. She had never really had to spend time alone, except maybe for the months before the toilet rescue by Harry and Ron in her first year. It had been heroic and stupid and all Ron's fault, but that was where her attraction towards Ron had really blossomed.

"Lux." Some of the candles lit, casting a glow about the room, making some of the shadows dance. It didn't bother her and hadn't since having lived in the castle, with all of its torch light. Hogwarts had changed her in many ways. Living with Ron had changed her more.

She went over to her desk and pulled out the scrapbook she had made, with a number of pictures in it of her and Ron and her, Ron and Harry. She started to tear up as she looked at the picture of the two of them at their engagement party at the Burrow. Ron had looked so handsome.

Hermione clutched the album to her chest, curled up on the couch and cried herself to sleep.

***

Rhonda lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, listening to Luna snore softly next to her. The pale headed girl lay curled gently against her, warm and soft. The ceiling of the tent was a good bit above the bed and she watched the pattern move softly in the breeze outside. Her thoughts ran over the night of sex she had just had. Luna had brought her to more orgasms than she knew was possible to have and she had reciprocated.

Guilt was not something she was really feeling at the moment. Contentment, bliss and wonder were much higher than guilt and she was glad for that. Almost since her transformation she had felt cut off from Hermione, ignored and untouched. Wanting nothing more than her fiancés love, Rhonda had tried to be there for her, but Hermione had not been there for her. Sure she had tried to fix the problem, but through the whole time she had not really dealt with Rhonda but had stayed focused inside.

And then there had been that letter. It had hurt, more than she would have thought. And to have found it in an empty Flat was more than she could stand. Hermione had made her decision and it was clearly not Rhonda. Since that was the case, it made sense to go out on this trip, away from her family and friends and especially away from Hermione.

Looking over at the more petite Luna, Rhonda missed the curly mass of her fiancé's hair. That she was going to miss Hermione was not in question, but rather if this more were in her own favor. Luna had been there for Rhonda and that made her feel wanted. She hadn't felt that way since this whole issue began. The feeling of touch, which made her skin feel so alive, had been something she hadn't been aware of missing until Luna had touched her.

She teared up some and wondered when she would be able to get past Hermione. The sooner the better, as far as Rhonda was concerned. With a final glance at the ceiling, she closed her eyes and cuddled up with Luna. Soon her breathing slowed and she went to sleep, dreaming of Luna.


	7. Chapter 7

This is a work of fiction using the characters created by J.K. Rowling. They are not used with her permission. All actions follow the events of book six of the series. Any similarity between any person living or dead is purely coincidental and unintentional. If you happen to find your life reflected in this piece I'll be impressed.

The Chalice and the Wand

Story ideas by poetheather and Wintermoon3

Beta by Redpiratemel

A/N: Sorry for the long delay. Life issues, muse issues and finally things came back together. So I am planning on seeing this through to the end.

Chapter Seven

"Come on Luna, we're almost there." Rhonda and Luna were nearing the next possible spot on their list, the Wasserfalle Triberg. It was a Muggle tourist spot so they had to be very careful about how they were approaching it so as not to give themselves away. They were dressed very Muggle and Luna wore her radish earrings to help her blend in. They were getting a few looks to not too many.

As they walked down the trail, they could hear the waterfall before they could see it. This fit with what Rhonda knew of Helga Hufflepuff: it was in a valley, it was remote but not too remote, and it would be easy to hide behind. With the badger as her symbol Rhonda was sure that her home had been underground and somewhere easily defensible. This was the best lead she had and she had almost run out of other possible ideas at this point. If they couldn't find the lair here they had two more places to check before giving up on finding Hufflepuff and heading off to Italy to search for Ravenclaw.

The two reached the falls and stood by the wooden railing, watching the water fall onto the rocks. It was a very soothing sight and sound and certainly made Rhonda relax some. There was a feeling of familiarity about this place, something that felt like home, almost welcoming. The crowd dispersed, as the tour group headed back to their bus, and the two of them moved quickly, acting to make use of this time.

Luna cast a muggle repelling charm to keep people away from the area for a short while as Rhonda climbed over the fence and gingerly made her way over to the side of the falls. The red head pulled out her wand and began to check on magical masking spells that could be hiding the lairs entrance. After a few spells, she reached into her bag and pulled out some of her more specialized detector items that she had brought with her from the Unspeakables offices where she worked. Once activated, she made a few readings and noticed that there did seem to be a large energy signature to the waterfall that had nothing to do with the natural ambient energy here. This could very well be it.

Was there a password? Rhonda knew very little about the Hufflepuffs except that they all worked hard and stuff. She knew more about Helga than about her house and nothing she knew gave her any clue as to any possible passwords. Would anything about that be involved here? Besides she didn't know any old German from that time period, so that was another problem. What about a simple opening charm? Surely it couldn't be that easy, could it?

Rhonda moved closer to the rushing water, trying to be careful so she did not fall in. She reached out with her wand tip barely into the stream of water when she cast. "Alohomora!"

Nothing happened. Maybe the door had been locked by Colloportus? That would certainly stop most things from getting in as it was a much more secure spell. What could she use to make it through that? Maybe Relashio? It might work, after all the spell was used to get things to let go of something. It was certainly worth a try. She focused and said, "Relashio!"

Nothing happened. This was really frustrating Rhonda. Hermione had been the one with the encyclopedic knowledge of spells, having basically any and every spell practically at her fingertips. She would know what to cast pretty quickly. She was just so bloody smart that is was scary some times. It was one of the things that was so very sexy about…

Rhonda shook herself to clear her thoughts. If Hermione didn't need Rhonda than she didn't need the curly headed girl, but thinking of her reminded Rhonda of another spell, or rather a derivation of a spell that she had picked up from the bossy know-it-all. "Specialis Revelio Portus."

The water slowly shifted away from the rocks into two curtains of water and a faint doorway was outlined in yellow. This had to be it. She had found the lair of Helga Hufflepuff! "Luna, come on."

The pale haired girl hopped over the railing, joining Rhonda up by the door. They quickly moved up to the door and went inside once Rhonda was able to undo the locks, the portal swinging open easily. The passage way was dry and remained that way when the water closed back over the entranceway, allowing them to look out at the area just below the waterfall as through a wavy gauze curtain.

They had a clear but wavy view of everything down from the falls, which would certainly have given Hufflepuff an excellent overlook of the land. With this, it would certainly be harder to set an ambush for her. Harder yes but not impossible. If there were other spells for scrying set up around here, then it would be much safer but they would have to look for those later. There were probably more devices inside the cave.

After a short walk into the cave, with both of them holding hands, the two explorers noticed that the rough cave changed from rock into a tile floor done in yellow and brown. They came to a large room, with lots of old furniture scattered about. Things were nice and dry with no moisture in the air. There were several tables loaded with different magical implements as well as dishes. Several bookcases were against the walls, helping to shape the space better. The tile floor was covered with a few rugs, mostly plain, but a few that were more decorative. Rhonda stopped Luna before the young woman stepped onto one of the rugs. "Let's check things out first. Hermione always says to think before you jump in. With a site like this I would have to agree. Who knows what she might have left. What I wouldn't give to have Bill with us right now. This is his area of expertise after all."

Rhonda paused, her heart aching over the loss of the girl she had loved for most of her life. She sighed, trying to not think about the two of them hanging out, making love, planning the wedding, any of that. It made her sad; however this situation was what Hermione had made it, not her. She had tried to keep things going, working on the assumption that Hermione would solve this and if not that they would make the best of things. Hermione had not chosen her, had decided that her transformed fiancé was not worth keeping.

A few analysis spells later Rhonda was sure that it was safe to walk on the rug and that there were no obvious magical tripwires that they could trigger by just moving about in the room. The same spells made sure that there were no traps on any of the items in the room as well. That was a great relief as it would mean that they might be able to actually do something in the room. They had pretty well made it into the lair of Helga Hufflepuff and had access to all of her materials. It was a heady realization. This would certainly be of help in Rhonda's research on the Chalice as well as how her condition came about.

Luna was flipping through one of the books, trying to make sense of what was in there. It did not look in any way familiar. That might be a bit of a problem. "Uhm…Rhonda, can you read German?"

"No. Why do you ask?" The thought that all of these books could be in some language other than English or Latin had never occurred to Rhonda and would only serve to make her more irate than she already was. That would certainly complicate matters as she didn't have the language skills that Hermione had. She needed the curly haired woman even if Hermione didn't need her. That thought soured her mood completely. She kicked the carpet angrily cursing, "Bugger all!"

Hermione rubbed her forehead in frustration. The amount of research she was doing into powered artifacts and their bleed over effects was making her head hurt. If what she was seeing were true, she would have to do a few things first in order to cure Ron of this particular effect. It was possible, but it wasn't going to be easy. There were a few spells and a potion that would be needed to make this work, and that was where the problem lay.

She had the recipe for a rather complex potion and despite being good at potions it would take a true master to make this correctly as it took longer to make than polyjuice and was more complex. Her only hope was to talk to Harry and Snape in the hopes that Severus would make the potion for her as he was the only potion master she knew with the needed skill and the available time to brew such a thing. Now all she had to do was make sure that Harry and she were all right before she could ask such a big favor. Just flooing him wasn't going to be enough. No, she needed to talk to him. Maybe floo him and ask him over to talk?

She headed over to the fire, tossed some of the powder in, and announced her call. She stuck her face in the fire and waited, looking back and forth to try and spot either of the two that lived there. Harry soon came over, looking a bit disheveled. "Hermione?"

"Hey Harry, could you come over and talk." plead Hermione, clearly a bit emotional.

Harry smiled gently at her, "Sure thing Hermione. Let me get ready and I'll be right over."

Shortly Harry came over, looking a good bit more put together and only stumbling slightly as he stepped through her fireplace. "So, what's up?"

"I… I... well you see Harry it's like this… uh…" Hermione's voice trailed off as she was unsure exactly what to say in this situation. After everything they had been through what could she say to ask him this question? "I…"

"Hermione, are you alright?" asked Harry, clearly a bit worried about her. "Here have a seat. I'll be right back."

While she was trying to come to grip with the words she wanted to say she could hear Harry banging away in the kitchen. That made her smile. He was probably making the extra noise on purpose as out of the trio he was easily the best cook, having gotten far too much practice growing up with the Dursleys. This was clearly all for her benefit, to help her relax and it was working. Good old Harry. What would she ever do without him?

That made her think about Ron and how she had basically driven him, her, whatever off because she had been acting like a right cow and not listening or really even trying to understand. Why had she been fighting so hard against this? Why had this whole thing been so difficult for her to accept? She sighed and rubbed her right temple, trying to stave off the headache that was building.

Harry came out with cups of tea and even some biscuits. "Here you go. I know it's not quite a proper serving but I thought you might just want something to help you relax."

"Thank you. I… Harry, I just wanted to make sure that you and I, that we're okay."

Harry narrowed his eyes a bit in confusion, trying to figure this out, "Well, yes, we're okay. Why do you ask?"

"I know with everything with Rhonda and all of that I haven't been, well I haven't been the best friend that I could have been to her or to you." admitted Hermione.

"That's true but you are trying Hermione, I know you have."

She smiled in thanks. "And that's why I wanted to ask you over for… to see if we were okay and to check to see if you could ask Severus to brew a potion for me. It is a bit on the tricky side and he is a Potions Master with a great deal of experience. If I am right this potion could turn Ron back."

Harry nodded following her reasoning. "That makes sense. And asking Severus to brew it makes sense as well. Have you checked with Rhonda and fixed things with her?"

Hermione looked down, abashed. "No, Ginny is still making me prove myself before she will let me get in contact with her. I know I was a cow to Rhonda and that I hurt her. I miss Ron and I don't know why I have an issue with Rhonda but I am trying. I… I don't know why this is so hard Harry."

Harry pursed his lips, thinking. "Look, I'll talk to her and see what I can do about getting her to tell you. But you also have to think about what you are going to do if this potion does not work. After all there is no guarantee that it will work because you aren't even sure why this happened in the first place. And if that is the case you have to decide if you will choose Rhonda or not."

Hermione sighed and sagged in her seat, sounding defeated. "I don't know. This really is a huge thing for me and I feel overwhelmed."

"That just means that it is important. I felt like that all the time I thought about Voldemort and trying to fight him, and look how that turned out." Harry grinned, looking years younger.

Hermione chuckled, some of her tension fading.

"Now drink your tea. I went to a lot of effort to make it."

Hermione looked up at him and smiled weakly, "Prat."

"Yep and proud of it."

"You would be. Honestly Harry, I don't know how Severus puts up with you."

"It's because of my charm."

"Git."

"Feel better about things?"

"Yes. Thank you Harry." replied Hermione, her words filled with emotion.

"Good. Now, you work on talking to that girl of yours and I will get Severus to agree to take a look at this potion of yours. Do we have a deal?" asked Harry, his humor masking the seriousness of his question.

Hermione knew that he was serious, having been able to read him since their third year at Hogwarts. "We have a deal. I have no idea what I am going to decide but I will talk to Rhonda and see what happens."

"Good. Well, let me get going. I got things to do. Do you have a copy of that potion anywhere?"

Hermione handed over her small stack of papers that were her extra notes on this particular potion, copied just in case she were able to convince Harry of this. Harry looked at the stack and whistled. "You never do anything by halves do you Hermione."

She just looked at him with a look that clearly answered his statement.

"Right. Talk to you later." And with a flash of green fire and a called out destination Harry was gone.

Hermione slumped into her seat and had some more of her tea. Harry really did make an excellent tea. He probably made Severus an excellent housewife.

Rhonda was going through things carefully after using her wand to first make an accurate rendition of the state of the room before she touched anything. She did the same thing when it came to details on the bookshelves and the tables, as she was going through and simply categorizing everything. This was going to take a while.

Luna looked on and was at a bit of a loss for what to do, not having trained for this kind of work. Sure she had some skills from tracking creatures with her father but those skills were not as useful at this precise moment. She rocked on her heels briefly and instead made sure that Rhonda had the tools that she needed. Since that did not really take all that long, Luna pursed her lips and looked around for another easy task that would make sense. She found a decent cleared out space and opened their tent up, figuring that staying in the cave was a smart plan.

She was busy thinking and that was always a tricky proposition when there were nargles about. Things were going well with Rhonda and that was both good and bad. The woman was relaxing about her body and actually enjoying things. The sex wasn't bad but Luna could tell that something was still haunting the redhead and that the something was Hermione. This was not a bad thing in her mind, if she wanted to get them back together then having Rhonda think about Hermione was a good thing.

Luna's biggest worry right now was what to do about Hermione herself. If the woman was having issues with intimacy with women then Luna would need to see to that before these two would be able to get back together. That might mean that she would have to head back to London and seduce Hermione to make the woman better with sex with women. Then maybe she would be able to have sex with Rhonda and make it easier for them to get back together. She had to fix this. It was important. She knew it was but didn't know exactly why.

Maybe if Rhonda was spending her time here working on the site or if she went when they found Ravenclaw's place, Luna might have a chance to rush back to London and spend some time with Hermione. The mere thought of such a journey made her feel exhausted but if it had to be done for the greater good then it had to be done. She had to do whatever it took to ensure that Rhonda and Hermione stayed together, even if it cost her her heart. She teared up a little at that and shook her head. No, she did not have time for silly thoughts. She had a relationship to save.

She had the tent fully prepared and was now working on making some lunch for the two of them. She knew that ensuring that the two of them had plenty to eat while they were working was an important task and one she was much better at than Rhonda, who could burn water. One thing that had carried over from Ron to Rhonda was the appetite. So she certainly wanted to make sure that she was kept fed. It was a simple meal of moderately fresh black bread, some local cheese and some local wurst of some kind that she had picked up in town before they had started up the trail. She had heated the wursts along with some vegetables, sliced a few pieces of bread and cheese, laying it all out for the two of them. That should provide plenty of fuel for the both of them to work with.

She went back outside and saw that Rhonda was now busy in a far corner of the main room examining what looked to be a small greenhouse off towards the back of the cave. Luna headed on over and rested a hand on the redhead's shoulder. "What have you found here?"

"Apparently, Hufflepuff had a collection of really rare plants here. Some of them seem to be incased some sort of stasis spell. I am not sure which one exactly so I am not going to fiddle with those at the moment. But all of this is really is pretty fascinating. There is just some truly amazing stuff in here. I mean it looks as if Hufflepuff closed things up as if she had expected to come back here. I wish I were able to find out why. You know, I don't know why no one has ever looked for this place before, but I guess no one planned on using the chalice in that manner so it just never occurred to anyone to track her down." commented Rhonda, as she was scribbling down some notes in a leather bound notebook she had.

"I guess people were just too lazy to do the work." replied Luna in that dreamy voice of hers.

"Makes sense. Kind of stupid if you ask me. Blimey, what Hermione wouldn't… never mind." Rhonda ground her teeth in frustration and turned away from what she had been looking at, wanting to make herself stop thinking along whatever track she had been thinking along.

"I wanted to let you know, lunch is ready."

"Great. I'm starving." commented Rhonda, glad for the topic change. That and her stomach had been gurgurling lately.

As they were seated, Luna had handed Rhonda over a plate filled with good things and the jar of stone ground mustard. Once Rhonda started eating, she said, "So you were wondering what Hermione wouldn't give to be in this cave with all this stuff?"

Rhonda choked on a bit of sausage, managed to swallow it down with some effort, trying to clear her throat with a few coughs and then said, quite loudly, "Bloody Hell! What was that for?"

"Well, wasn't that what you were saying outside? I quite agree with you, you know. Hermione would give almost anything to see all of this. She really does have an insatiable curiosity. She would be quite useful in all of this exploring. Butterbeer?"

"Uh… thanks?" Rhonda took the drink offered to her, not sure what was going on.

Luna continued on, quite unfazed by Rhonda's red face and distress, "I am quite certain that she would love to see all of this but not before she was being nice to you again Rhonda. That is an absolute first step."

"Uhm… yeah. Sure." Rhonda was getting confused. She had no idea what the hell Luna was going on about. As far as she knew, girls that you snogged and slept with did not usually blather on about other girls or mention them in this caviler a fashion. It was really making her more and more confounded. Part of her wanted to hide until the madness blew over.

"Oh good. I am glad you agree. I am sorry we have no treacle tart, I think that the snifflerbats may have gotten into the supplies. I am dreadfully sorry Rhonda. I think I should go shopping tomorrow while you work, would that be okay?" said Luna with a smile.

"Sure. That will be fine. I mean, we are going to be here for a few days why I am trying to figure out all this stuff, to see if I can get any clues as to the powers of Hufflepuff's Chalice. If you can find something to help translate the books while you are out that would be great." replied Rhonda as she cut some more of the wurst.

"No problem. I have an idea where to look for something like that."

"Great. That will help speed things up in here. If I had glasses or something that translated languages or something like that, it would be perfect. I think Hermione may have… never mind. Forget about it." grumbled Rhonda, her thoughts heading back to the curly haired girl.

"I think you have nargles. Once you finish lunch, I know a great way to check for them and maybe chase them off. That is… if you are interested." said Luna coyly.

"Really? I think I like that idea. Tell me more…"

Concentrating when such a good looking man was in the room, working on something else, was not easy. Hermione kept telling herself that she was still engaged, that she was just having a slight hiccough in her relationship and that she would never cheat on Ron or Rhonda. However, Derek was so near and he smelled so good and he was so attractive and she so wanted to peel his clothes off and nibble his muscular body that it was completely distracting which was of no help to her mental state right now. How could she be sure of her cure for Rhonda if Derek and his scent of clean, rugged manliness was so close.

His work was too good and too useful to just sack him and send him far, far away. No, she just had to fight against this temptation and do the right thing, no matter how much she wanted to be bad. And by the right thing, she meant go home to her empty apartment and maybe frig herself into sleep again, while she cried in her half drunken stupor over what a total disaster her life had become. It was a terrible way to live and Hermione hated it. She hated feeling bad for feeling attracted to an attractive man. She hated feeling bad for not being attracted to Rhonda. She hated feeling bad that she was not sure she could live up to the ideals that both Harry and Ginny seemed to hold her to.

It was unfair. Why did she have to always be the perfect one? Why did she have to be the one who suffered while Rhonda got all the sympathy in this crazy situation? Derek's muscular arms would surely comfort her through the long night alone but that would be wrong and she just couldn't do that to herself or to Rhonda. If she wanted to make this work and salvage her relationship then she had to fight against these urges, but every day it got more and more difficult. All she really wanted to do right now was strip off her clothes, let Derek shove the books off and have his way with her on the tables. The thought of that whole scenario excited her, made her so wet that it was a bit uncomfortable and she was randier than she had been since this whole misadventure had started.

She swallowed hard and shook her head to clear it of the bad thoughts that were clamoring for control. No, she couldn't do that, if she did it would be something she would regret for a very long time, but perhaps she could do something about the feelings and urges that were playing havoc with her. Getting up she walked to the loo and locked the door. After a quick cast of the appropriate privacy charms, Hermione dropped her pants, threw off her skirt and leaned against the wall, letting her fingers move within her sopping wet cleft. Her other hand moved under her shirt and under her bra to play with her breasts and the tightening nipples. As her hands were busy at work her mind thought of Derek and what he would look like, smell like, feel like, as he moved upon her.

That train of thought continued and it was very pleasant. The images of that muscular Texan in nothing but chaps and riding her, maybe breaking her like an errant horse got her so damn close but the images changed as her thoughts drifted, dragged along by the tidal pull of the sensations, from the image of a broad shouldered Texan to a more familiar red headed man, with a different scent and feel, with a far more familiar and practiced hand. Her own hands slowed from the frantic pace she had been rushing with, desperately trying to find some sort of release to a much more slow build to the final peak, moving her up closer and closer up towards what was sure to be a thunderous orgasm. She could picture clearly Ron's thighs, his back, his shoulders, his arms, his abs, the feel of his Quiddich roughened hands moving across her skin. His rough lips on hers, the way his skin felt under her hands, the way the muscles bunched under his back as he thrust into her, the smooth muscles of his arms, the rounded curve of buttocks, the soft globes of her breasts and the way that they fit just so in her…

Hermione screamed out her orgasm and her legs buckled under her, dropping to the floor in tears, sobbing for a lust that she wanted, had had before and, in the case of her husband, utterly reviled and she did not know why.


	8. Chapter 8

This is a work of fiction using the characters created by J.K. Rowling. They are not used with her permission. All actions follow the events of book six of the series. Any similarity between any person living or dead is purely coincidental and unintentional. If you happen to find your life reflected in this piece I'll be impressed.

The Chalice and the Wand

Story ideas by poetheather and Wintermoon3

Chapter Eight

Luna woke and felt the warmth of Rhonda cuddled next to her. That made her smile. The redhead was sleeping so peacefully and that was so good to see, as that had not been the case when they had first started this trip. The girl had slept fitfully and it had taken lots of physical labor and lovemaking in order to wear her out enough so that she had been able to sleep enough to not be tired day in and out. That she was peaceful now was a good sign. That meant that Rhonda was healing from the pain that Hermione had inflicted on her when the breakup happened.

After a few minutes of enjoying the sight, she slowly eased herself out of the bed, needing to answer the call of nature. Rhonda made a noise but did not wake, instead grabbing the pillow she had been using and cuddling against that instead. Unable to help herself, Luna reached down and ran a hand down the girl's hair, gazing at the girl fondly. It was going to hurt so bad when she lost her.

Walking into the kitchen after she had gotten ready for the day, she looked through their supplies, smiling as she did. It was a really good thing that they were starting to run low on provisions at this point or it would have been a lot more difficult for her to pull this part of the plan off. Even Rhonda, who was admittedly not the most observant of the Golden Trio, would have noticed something amiss. And it would really help matters that the girl was so immersed in her work right now that it should help mask things as well. Luna had to admit that the site was fascinating. To have found the cave of Helga Hufflepuff was simply amazing. And it was all Rhonda who had done it as well. How could she not be impressed? Who would ever believe it?

She noted down everything that needed restocking and then turned and made some breakfast for herself as well as Rhonda. As she was putting it onto plates, Rhonda came stumbling groggily out of their room, hair tousled and still clearly sleepy. Luna smiled at the redhead affectionately and put a mug of tea in front of her. She had made it just the way Rhonda liked it and had kept it ready with a warming charm. The tea seemed to help the girl wake up enough to have her eyes open up more than mere slits.

"Ready for breakfast?" asked Luna airily, as she was running through her own packing list, making sure she was ready to go. She was going to be away for a few days and needed to have what she would need and it would not be useful to forget anything.

"Thanks. Hungry." mumbled Rhonda, not really looking up from the table.

Luna snickered lightly, "You are always hungry. You have always been the hungriest Weasley."

"s'not my fault." grumbled Rhonda as she began to dig into the plate that Luna slid in front of her.

"I know. You'll be fine but I am going to get us more supplies. You have enough food and such for a few days. I should be back by then, so it shouldn't be a problem. I have not seen any infestations of nargles, wrackspurts, or Black Forest Dumfliegers, which can steal your intelligence, so you should be fine. But if you start to feel stupid, wave your hands about and hop, the commotion often drives them off."

Rhonda looked up from her plate of food slightly confused. She swallowed and then asked, "Are you serious?"

"Absolutely Rhonda. An infestation of Dumfliegers can reduce you to a gibbering mess and we wouldn't want that." Luna smiled at him.

"Uhm… no… no we wouldn't." Rhonda had kind of forgotten this part of Luna, as it had not really manifested during their trip so far. She smiled a bit uncomfortably and unsure. "Thank you for that. I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

"Thank you. I would hate to return and find you in a puddle of your own drool." commented Luna seriously.

Rhonda started laughing. "Oh Merlin Luna, thank you. I will be on the lookout for that. I certainly wouldn't want that to happen."

"Good." Luna stood up from her place at the table, collecting her dishes. "Now I really should get going. There is so much to do. I will be back in a few days."

Rhonda nodded. "Be safe."

She smiled at her, glad that the redhead cared for her, even though it made this whole thing harder for her to accomplish. "Certainly, and you do the same."

"Oh, and use that apparation point I found at the back of the cave. That way there is less chance of the muggles seeing you before you leave. Clearly Hufflepuff thought of everything." commented Rhonda, as she had some more tea.

"I shall. And do remember that falling is not your fault and can be a good thing."

Rhonda looked up at her quizzically, trying to make sense of that last statement. Luna just smiled, came around the table and kissed the girl good bye. She put a lot of her feelings into it so that Rhonda might be a bit too stunned to actually ask her about things she really couldn't answer. Sometimes she just said things and she didn't know why. If they felt right, the words came out. She had always been that way.

She grabbed her bag and walked from the tent that she had erected in a cleared area inside the cave. Since the site was of such historical importance it felt weird to even consider sleeping on Helga Hufflepuff's bed. So it was probably for the best that she had put up the tent and not done that. Rhonda had not noticed when she was doing that as she had been busy inventorying the cave, trying to get and accurate picture of what was here visually before she started really delving deeper into what was there in terms of analysis. She really was approaching this work logically and with a good methodology, so unlike a Gryffindor.

It was already pretty interesting. There was a small greenhouse, a small forge, the library, personal rooms, a kitchen which seemed to double as a potions room. The whole complex was a wonderfully compact and efficient place for someone to do their work free of distractions. Luna was certainly impressed and she was sure Rhonda was as well. The area that Rhonda had mentioned was a small cleared area in the back that looked like it had protective wards around it but was still a valid apparation point. It was incredible and was a work of some amazingly advanced magic to make such a tiny hole in such strong wards that was invisible from the outside, but it made sense given that a badger would want more than one way out.

She read the Arithomancy formulae written in the runes around the border around the floor that spelled out the name of the spot, Puff's Den, and the layers of protections. It made her smile. This was like needing to apparate with a Floo address. It was pure genius. Hermione would be all over this, enjoying the spell and rune work that went into this place, maybe even squealing with delight. Stepping onto the bare earth and fixing the spot in her mind, she smiled faintly, trying to remind herself that she was doing all of this to help her friends. She disappeared with a pop.

"This really is a rather complex and ingenious potion Ms. Granger. I must admit I am rather impressed." said Professor Snape. "I gather that from your notes that you believe the problem to be the lingering energies of the Founder's Artifacts?"

Hermione smiled faintly. Once such praise would have made her puff up with pride, but now it was all kind of hollow. A lot of her life felt that way right now as all of her energies were devoted to solving this one problem, in the hopes that it could fix her screwed up relationship. She just wanted her old life back. "Yes. I figure that with Ron spending all that time working with those two Artifacts so closely that the energy seeped into him."

"Not unlike water penetrating a sponge?" He said with a slight sneer.

"Yes, exactly. That was what I was thinking. I think the reason all the other attempts to fix this failed is because all of that power is still in there. If it is stripped from him…" ignoring the slight against Ron, because it was not important in the overall scheme of things.

"…then the weak power of the fortune cookie spell will be all that remained. As I said, ingenious. The way you used multiple disciplines to solve this problem is really a skill outside of most witches or wizards out there. I must commend your work." Professor Snape favored her with a slight smile, more a turning up of one corner of his mouth than anything else. "It will take me a while to brew this. In order for greatest efficacy to occur I do believe it may be several months. This has never been attempted before, at least not in this fashion nor strength. I do look forward to this challenge. I thank you for that."

Hermione sighed and sagged slightly in her chair. She had honestly been worried that Snape would have refused the job and he was the best potions Master she knew of. "Thank you Professor. This really means a lot to me."

"You are welcome. I have all the ingredients available at Hogwarts and will start brewing immediately. I wish you luck in this endeavor."

Hermione stood and offered her hand to the tall, thin professor. He took her hand and shook it gently. He raised an eyebrow and pierced her with his gaze as he had of old. "And do try to take care of yourself Ms. Granger. It is clear that you are not sleeping well and that will take its toll on your work. Harry worries about you, you know."

The brown haired girl blushed a little at his comment, aware of the dark circles under her eyes and the paleness of her skin. She had been trying to mask it but naturally Snape would be able to see through such things. "I will try Professor. I am just under a lot of stress."

"Very well. Now that this is in my hands, you can cease your stress and leave it in my capable hands. What good does this do you, if at the end you are too unwell to properly celebrate?"

"Thank you Professor." replied Hermione, blushing some more and shaking her head.

"Good day." He turned and his cloak spun around him, like it often had at Hogwarts. She shook her head. Some things would never change, which was something of a comfort. Before the door closed she heard his voice again, "Miss Lovegood."

"Professor."

Hermione looked towards the door in some surprise as the blond walked in. Her brows furrowed in worry, "Luna? But I thought…? Weren't you with…? Is Ron okay?"

"Yes. Yes you did. Yes I was. She is fine. We have made some amazing discoveries, but that is for her to tell you. I just have a few questions." The smile that Luna graced her with was beatific.

The responses and the look threw Hermione for a bit of a loop and she sat down kind of heavily, trying to parse all of that. She needed to get things back under her control where she liked them. "Uhm… yes, so what is it that you want?"

The girl smiled happily and asked in response, "Did you have a nice chat with Professor Snape?"

"I… I did thank you." Hermione could not figure out where this was going. Luna was always the most random person she had ever known and that had clearly not changed since she had last seen her. This was not helping matters any.

"That's good. I am so glad that Harry was able to clear out the nest of Nargles that was infesting him. He does seem to be much happier now."

Hermione smiled a little. Luna's imaginary creatures were always kind of amusing. They always seemed to be used to justify odd or unusual behavior in people, when it was really just psychology. "Yes, he is so much nicer since that happened."

"Oh! Rhonda said that you had enchanted a pair of glasses to be able to translate any language they looked over into English. Would it be possible to borrow those for a little while?"

"Certainly. I assume you found something that Ron can't read?" Hermione asked, growing interested in what Ron was doing.

"Yes. Rhonda is not very skilled at several languages though I must admit she is developing some skills as a linguist." There was something in the smile that Luna gave her that had Hermione trying to figure out what the blond meant by that. "And the quality of the work she does. I must admit, I had not thought that Rhonda would be quite that cunning. You must have had a rather strong influence on that part of her."

"Thank you…" Hermione was not sure what to make of that. Luna was smiling that smile of hers, the one that made her seem all blissed out and like there wasn't a problem in the whole world. It did seem like she was saying something else though. "I have no problem letting Ron…da borrow those glasses for her work. I assume this has to do with her search for answers?"

"Oh yes, you would be very proud. She is doing some amazing things right now." Luna smiled happily, clearly proud of what Rhonda was doing.

Hermione closed her eyes and rubbed the tense spot between her eyes. She was the one that should have been proud of Ron's work and not Luna. This was not right. "Look Luna, I know that you are with him and that I may have screwed things up beyond fixing but could you not rub my face in it."

"I am sorry Hermione, that wasn't my intention. I was trying to let you know how she is doing, since you seemed worried about her." replied Luna with a bit of a frown on her face.

Luna was being so forthright that Hermione was finding it difficult to be angry with her. If the girl weren't so open about everything it would be easier to hate her. "No I'm sorry Luna. I should not have snapped at you."

With another of her characteristic smiles, Luna replied, "That's okay. You are just worried about someone you care about. Even if things aren't going well right now that doesn't mean your feelings stop."

Hermione nodded. When Luna made sense there really was no denying what she said and she really was making a good deal of sense right now. "Thank you. Let me get those glasses."

She stood and walked over to one of her bookshelves and grabbed the solid glasses case that was designed to survive most any damage that came to it, which contained the glasses that Luna had asked about. Handing them over she asked, "Was there anything else you needed?"

"Yes. I was wondering if you would have dinner with me tonight?" Again Luna turned one of her brightest smiles on her.

Hermione's face scrunched some in confusion. Had she misheard Luna? "Excuse me?"

"Dinner. Tonight. Surely you still eat, right? I mean surely you must unless you are dealing with an infestation of Librapath Beetles that make you disregard normal life for studying. I know it might be tough to tell with you sometimes but this development is worrisome. We need to start treatment right away!" Luna was clearly a bit distraught and began to get up and moved towards her side of the desk.

"No, no… it's okay Luna. I don't have a beetle infestation. I am perfectly fine and yes, I will have dinner with you. See, no need to worry about me and some strange infestation." protested Hermione, wanting to keep Luna from doing anything too strange to her head in order to stop the infestation.

Luna smiled at her serenely and sat back down. "Well, if you are sure. I could still check for them. It won't take but a moment. We need to be safe."

"No, I'm good." Hermione gave a small indulgent smile.

"Okay. Do you want to come over to my place before dinner? I will have everything set up for it and you will not have to do a thing."

"That sounds fine. Thank you Luna."

The blond stood. "Well I should get going. I need to do some more shopping and get things ready for our dinner. Here is the Floo address for my flat. I hope to see you there at seven?"

"I'll be there."

Once the blond left, Hermione lowered her head to her desktop, groaning in frustration. Why did this sort of thing always seem to happen to her? She had been good. She had been in a good relationship with good friends and everything, so why this? Why was all of this happening to her? To Ron? Maybe there was some sort of curse on them? Some sort of lingering curse that Voldemort's death had started? She shook her head. There was no way that was true, based off of how happy Harry and Ginny were, but she wished it was. That at least would be an easy thing to fix, a problem she could tackle and overcome instead of having a life that was falling to pieces all around her and completely out of her control.

She looked at the paperwork and projects on her desk and she sighed. There was just no way she was going to be able to focus on any of this stuff, not while she was still all tangled up with these issues. Maybe having dinner with Luna would actually help her clear her mind, get her out of the rut she had been in and let her tackle these problems fresh in the morning. Right now she really was not doing her best work and that was not what she needed. No, if she wanted to save her engagement and her love she had to be at her best. Only that way could she fix things.

Rhonda looked around the cave, at all the amazing things in it and smiled. This really was kind of awe inspiring. She was actually standing in the cave of Helga Hufflepuff, one of the founders of Hogwarts. She had found the cave of Helga bloody Hufflepuff. That was amazing. To think that without this stupid curse that she had somehow given herself she might never have actually gone on this trip and searched for this place. She might never have discovered this out of sheer laziness if not for a fortune cookie. It was mind blowing. Hermione would be so jealous.

That thought made her frown. Yes Hermione would love it here. This place with all its books and interesting objects and lore would be a veritable playground for the woman. However she had hurt Rhonda and so she was a bit cross with the genius at the moment. With a shake of her head she tried to clear her thoughts of her fiancé, grumbling out, "I don't have time for this."

Choosing instead to follow the lure of the room in front of her, Rhonda left her brooding and moved deeper into the cave. She had noted the greenhouse yesterday so it would make a good first project to tackle as without the glasses looking at the books would not be helpful. Looking over the outside, what she noted first were the heavy use of runes on all the joins and around the windows. It was interesting work and fairly advanced for the time period.

This brought to mind visions of Hermione bent over an Ancient Runes text back at Hogwarts, studying like mad over the crazy symbols. Rhonda frowned and tried to ignore that thought, choosing instead to focus on the task at hand. She tried to remember if these runes were similar to the ones on the greenhouses at Hogwarts but could not precisely remember. Her memory for those sorts of details was not that great. It was probably the case, but she was not sure.

Entering the greenhouse cautiously, with her wand out and at the ready, Rhonda looked around the glass enclosed room. It was well lit and a bit humid. There were a number of plants there, mostly having overgrown their pots, spilling over the surfaces they had been put on and draping over the floor. The ceiling was giving off what seemed a little like daylight and if there had been a watering system built in as well, that could explain how these plants had managed to survive all these years and the humidity in the air. She couldn't identify most of the plants, as herbology was another subject that she was not particularly good at. It was a bit annoying as at every turn in this damn place she was wishing that she had the bushy haired girl that she still loved despite the pain.

Groaning in annoyance, Rhonda tried to get back to her work of figuring things out about Helga's place. It did not look like there was anything of note that she could spot in here but she need to finish her search. Neville could have identified all of these she was sure and given her a better assessment, but her own herbology grades had not nearly been nearly as stellar. She knew she had been pretty much a crap student back at Hogwarts but she had been trying to make up for it even since and in fact had done a lot more learning and studying since she had joined the Unspeakables in order to more effectively do her work. Their training program was intense and she had almost not made it, to be honest. If it had not been for her fame because of the War there was no way she would have even gotten the position, but the extra hours she had studied both at work and at home, with Hermione helping her ensured her eventual success.

That train of thought made Rhonda scream in annoyance, "Bloody hell, does everything in my life relate to perfect fucking Granger! I know we wouldn't have survived the bloody War without her but I have done things on my own! I'm a success. I have done all sorts of things! Look, I found this bloody cave, haven't I! A cave no one found for about a thousand years! Damnit Hermione, you aren't the only smart witch around here!"

She collapsed to her knees against the back of the greenhouse, head against the stone, pounding her fist lightly against it as she cried, tears of anger and frustration burning down her face. "It's not fair! This whole damn thing is not fair."

Suddenly she fell forward onto the floor as that section of wall swung open and all that supported her was empty space. Rhonda, lay there on the dirty floor, blinking at the opened area in some confusion. She cast Lumos and looked at the tunnel that was before her. She climbed to her feet, brushing the dirt off of her, wand still held before her as she walked down a short tunnel to another chamber. Once she stepped into the room several torches burst into light. Rhonda was blinking at all of this as she took in the chamber. This was clearly some sort of secret room within Hufflepuff's secret living space. There was a worktable in there with a chair in front of it and as she drew closer it was clear that there were metal carving tools on there. Looking closer she could spot a few pieces of metal that looked similar in composition to the chalice. Was this where the chalice was made?

Running her fingers over the surface, she smiled to herself. This place was amazing. There was a bookshelf in here as well, but it was empty, and there were shelves of jars that had labels on them that she could not read. This was more than likely Helga's work room, where the other rooms had been for living and normal study. This was clearly the safest place in the whole complex.

That thought made Rhonda pause. This would indeed be the safest place in the whole complex so how in Merlin's name did she get in here?

Frowning, she headed back to the door, trying to make sense out of this. If the door was protected, like it would have to be for a secret room, then how did she manage to do this? It would probably be something in a manner similar to the Chamber of Secrets, but she had not really said anything that might work as a password. She had just pounded on the stone and spoke regular words. That made less than no sense. The parseltongue defenses made sense but this?

She had already seen the room, so should she take the chance of never getting back in to try and solve this mystery? With a nod, Rhonda pulled the door closed. Once it was back in place, there was no seam anywhere to mark that there had ever been a door. She knelt down to the same spot she had been at before and examined the rock. She saw a faint mark on the stone and it looked like a badger. She peered closer until she was sure that what she was seeing was actually there and not something she was making up to make herself feel better. It was and if she was correct that was where her fist was hitting. Tracing the figure with a finger, she then rested her hand flat against it, holding her breath nervously. The stone swung open as her hand went flat on it.

Rhonda gasped. How the hell? This didn't make any sense. Why would her hand open the door? She needed to think and it was not a skill she was particularly gifted at. Heading back to the main rooms, she was distracted as her thoughts were a tangled, jumbled mess. She needed a cup of tea to think clearly, and it might even be easier if she was back in the comfort of the Burrow. This was strange and difficult to wrap her head around and was making her head hurt a little. Somehow she was able to open Hufflepuff's secret workroom with a touch. That made no sense.

Once back in the tent, she made the tea while she was rubbing the back of her neck, trying to loosen tight muscles, her mind busy trying to make heads or tails of this whole issue. Could it have to do with the magic bleed over from the artifacts she had been working on? If so, did that mean that it made her read like Helga Hufflepuff magically to the door? That was crazy, wasn't it? But then again the Chamber opened to anyone speaking parseltongue. Was this something similar? You just had to feel somewhat like Hufflepuff to get in? Did this mean she might be able to do something similar if she was able to find where Rowena Ravenclaw had lived in the Italian Alps? She drank her tea and rubbed her eyes. This was so frustrating and maddening. There was no real precedent for this and she was not sure how to proceed.

What the hell was she going to do if that was true? It made no sense at all but the idea was something she had to consider, even as a remote possibility. What was she going to do? This was almost too much for her to deal with. All she could really do now was keep studying this place in order to get as much from the place as she could. If she did not keep moving her worries would overwhelm her and she really did not want that. This was all she could do. Maybe when Luna got back she could help. Rhonda looked sadly at her drink, wishing that her favorite genius were here to make everything better.

Hermione stared out the window trying to figure how the hell this had happened to her. How in the hell had she agreed to letting Luna Bloody Lovegood take her out for dinner for Merlin's sake? What was she thinking? Was she thinking? Was she simply sleep deprived and making stupid decisions? There was no way for her to know and that was making her crazy. She needed to do something but what? She had been fighting off the advances of the Derek, at least her attraction to the man that she had never seen this date coming.

Maybe going on this date, dinner, or whatever it was, was a good thing after all. She might be able to get more information about Ron out of Luna and find out what was going on with him right now. Regardless of all of that, she still had to sit there and eat a meal with Loony and not mock her for all her crazy beliefs. That just might take more than she had at this moment. She felt so close to breaking that it was making her a bit crazy. It was difficult enough to maintain a façade at work, let alone an intimate setting with someone who actually knew her.

How was she going to do this? The clock chimed and she sighed. Her time was up. There was no longer any way of getting out of this. She had agreed and it really was a great opportunity to get information, since Ginny wasn't telling her anything. No going out to dinner with Luna was it. She had to do this if she wanted to know.

She went to the fireplace, threw in the Floo powder and said the name on the paper, stepping through the green flames. The flat she arrived in was nothing like she had expected. It was rather plain, all told, with a neat and well-ordered bookshelf off to one side of the room. There were a lot of wizard photos on another wall, more than she expected the young woman to have. The furniture was plain as well, though the couch did have an attractive and rather colorful Afghan tossed over the back. This did not seem to be what she thought of when she thought of Luna. Where was all the crazy stuff?

When Luna came into the room, she smiled happily at Hermione, saying, "Right on time."

Hermione noticed that Luna was wearing perfectly normal muggle clothes, with no strange earrings or anything. It was a rather shocking look from what Hermione was used to. The blond asked, "Are you ready?"

"Sure." Hermione was a bit confused but tried to play it off. This was again not going like she had expected. "So where are we going?"

"I figure we can Floo to the Leaky Cauldron and from there take a taxi to the restaurant." Luna looked so happy when she said that.

They quickly flooed over to the wizarding tavern and from there went down the street a little, finding a taxi. As they got in the back the cabbie asked, "Where to then?"

"Souk Bazaar." answered Luna.

"Right then. Hold on." The taxi headed down Charing Cross Road and they were on their way.

"Souk Bazaar? Middle Eastern food?" asked Hermione, turning a little in her seat to better face the girl.

"Yes. It is more Moroccan food than general Middle Eastern food. Very tasty. I am sure you will enjoy it."

Hermione actually relaxed and smiled, one of the first real smiles she had had since this whole thing had started, certainly since Rhonda had left. This was so unexpected that it made it even more wonderful. "Thank you Luna."

The blond reached over and briefly rested a hand comfortingly on one of Hermione's. "You are welcome."

Once they reached the restaurant, the headed inside. It was rather nice, with a rather rich Moroccan flair that really did impress Hermione. This was exactly the kind of place she would have loved to have gone with Ron if he were more partial to trying more muggle things. It had taken a lot of work to get him to try the few things he had done and that was quite frustrating. He almost seemed averse to exploring the muggle world she had grown up in.

The next surprise to hit Hermione was when Luna started speaking Arabic to one of the people there. The person bowed their head and then led them back into the restaurant, into a back corner where they sat on thick cushions next to a low table. Hermione looked at her in shock, "You speak Arabic?"

"Some. Some of the expeditions my father and I have been on have taken us all over. I speak a number of different languages because of that." Luna smiled happily as she shrugged as if it were no big deal. "Those were good times."

"Have you… have you ever found anything?" hesitantly asked Hermione, unsure if she really wanted to know the answer to this or not.

"It's okay Hermione. I know that you don't believe that any of the creatures I talk about are real, but I assure you they are. And yes, my father and I have found several of these creatures on our travels. It has been quite exciting."

Hermione blinked a few times as she tried to process that. Luna had actually found some of those things? "So… so Nargles and Heliopaths and…"

"Yes. I know it is quite stunning to learn that the world that you thought you knew is not what you thought it was. It makes everything far more magical." Luna said a bit dreamily.

There was that smile again that used to make Hermione roll her eyes but this time she wasn't sure what to do. And that statement… when Hermione had discovered that Magic was real and that she was a witch it had the same effect. Knowing that could she really, with full honesty deny Luna anymore? "Do you have any records of these finds?"

"Oh certainly, what kind of naturalists don't have records of their trips? But don't worry about that right now. I can show you all of that stuff later. How are you doing Hermione? You look like you haven't been sleeping."

"I… I haven't. What is going on Luna? Why won't people tell me what is going on with Ron? I just want to know how he is?" Hermione almost wanted to shake the girl to get an answer but that wouldn't help her case.

"That right there."

"What?" Hermione sat back, clearly surprised and having difficulty following what the girl was saying.

"You are very smart Hermione. Smartest person I have ever met but right now you are being really dumb and I don't know why. It is confusing me. I know there is pain involved and something else, but for the life of me so much of how you are acting just doesn't make sense." Luna focused on Hermione and her somewhat larger than normal eyes almost seemed hypnotic.

"Are you saying you know how I act?" Hermione narrowed her eyes almost in a challenge.

Luna shrugged, her voice still completely calm in that way of hers. "I know how most people act. It's not all that difficult. All you have to do is watch them and it all makes sense. Simple observation really." A waitress came up and Luna ordered mint tea and two royal feast meals. Once the woman was gone she continued. "I knew why you did not believe me in school and that was okay. How you saw the world would not allow it. That was fine and did not bother me."

"Luna…"

"No, hold on… You are a kind and considerate person, who loves your friends and values truth. You take people as they are. So thinking about that, you tell me why people won't tell you anything?" Luna was serene throughout all of this, her voice even and peaceful, making the words hit harder because of that.

Hermione thought on that as the waitress returned with two pots of hot water and glasses. The scent of mint was quite rich in the air. Luna poured some of the tea and handed the glass over. "There you go."

With a faint smile, Hermione nodded her head in thanks and took an absent sip. The flavor was lovely and it did help calm her some. She could see what Luna was driving at. Harry and Ginny had pretty much made the same points, though not in quite as logical a manner as the blond. The logic was forcing her to look closer than the emotional approach had. She knew the answer, had known the answer, but had never wanted to share it. "I know I have not been treating Rhonda well… it's just that…"

Luna smiled at her encouragingly, trying to coax the answer out of her.

Hermione swallowed hard, feeling like something was caught in her throat. Tears started to well up in her eyes as emotions she had thought she had hidden came to the fore. All her worries, all her fears came spilling down and it hurt, tearing her up inside. She looked down at the table as she spoke, "I… I know it doesn't make any sense but I lost so much in the War, we all did and this…" she swallowed hard, tears welling up in her eyes. "This whole thing feels like I have lost Ron, like he is gone forever, like I will never get the man I love back. It feels… feels like he is dead."

Luna took the bushy haired girl into her arms and let Hermione cry. The girl shook in her arms, pain leeching out of her. When she started quieting down and the starters had arrived, Luna asked calmly, "You are aware that Rhonda is still Ron… right?"

Hermione nodded, sniffling and wiping her eyes. "I know that, intellectually but it doesn't feel that way. I look at her and it doesn't feel right. The longer it goes the worse this feeling becomes. I feel like I am looking at a completely different person who is living happily while my Ron is dead."

Luna sat there pondering this while eating the food, showing Hermione how to do the same. After a few more bites she said, "Just being around Rhonda is completely like being around Ron. It really is but until you can get that you won't see that. And that means you won't be able to love her for her."

"I tried but it wasn't working." sadly said Hermione.

"Of course not. You have to give up the dead. Only the living can be dealt with like this."

Hermione thought about that, and even though it sounded a bit ridiculous it did make a kind of sense. Maybe she should listen to Luna's advice? Nothing else had worked so far. "I'll give that a try."

"Good. Now dry your tears and have some of this tasty food. We can worry about all that other stuff later. For right now, let's enjoy ourselves."


End file.
